


The Smuggler And The Jedi

by EsriteIatha



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Friends as Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2018-10-11 02:12:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 46,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10452642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EsriteIatha/pseuds/EsriteIatha
Summary: Series of oneshots of Han's and Luke's unique friendship. I love them and there is way too few of these fics.





	1. Darkest Hour Of Han Solo

_He watched as Han walked into the Falcon's lounge area and stopped in front of the holotable. The former smuggler's face was blank. Even his hazel eyes lacked their characteristic mischievousness. They reminded him of the void of the black holes. Han moved again. He pulled his blaster from its holster and changed the setting from stun to lethal energy. His face remained expressionless as he raised the blaster to his temple. He pulled the trigger._

He shot up in his bunk, but his scream died in his throat before it could escape. At least some of his self-control was still working. While he tried to steady his breathing, he looked around. His bunk in the Falcon, check. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to open up to the Force. Chewbacca, check. Han sleeping in the captain's quarter, check. Luke let out a deep sigh. It was just a dream. Or a vision, his annoying inner voice supplied. He shook his head, because no, there was no way Han would even think about ending his own life. It was just not his way to go. With another sigh he kicked off his blanket and reached for his shirt than boots. He left the crews quarters and wandered around in the corridors a bit, but eventually he had to stop in the lounge area. Artoo beeped at him questioningly, but he reassured the droid that he was fine, just had a bad dream. He stared at the holotable for a few seconds, then he shook his head in order to chase away the disturbing images that wanted to break through his barriers. He decided that making some caf would be a good idea. While the cafmaker worked he rummaged around the lounge area till he found his datapad he had left there last night. He opened the file about their current mission and with his caf in hand he sat down to work a bit.

The Alliance got a message from one of their spies requesting a meeting. Problem was that the spy would only speak with Luke himself. It was strange because during the three years after the battle of Endor Luke's had become one of the most known faces of the Galaxy. He would have thought that a spy would prefer someone less obvious. Han had the same thoughts because as the briefing had gone on the tension between the ex-smuggler and Rieekan had grown to the point that one of their famous arguments had erupted. In the end they had compromised. Luke still had to come, but Han and Chewbacca accompanied him. Actually, he needed a transport anyway, because Oyria where the spy wanted to meet was way too far from Coruscant to travel with his X-wing. Oyria was an Outer Rim planet with weather that Han called yucky! It meant rainy and cold.

Luke leaned back in his seat and rubbed his eyes. They were dry and itchy because of his insomnia that had been presents for months. Sooner or later someone would notice and people would start to worry. Again. He at least knew that his tiredness wouldn't effect his mission. His connection to the Force gave him inhuman stamina and energy reserves.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

He blinked up at Chewbacca who strode into the longue area and stopped in front of him.

"Did I wake you up?" he asked back instead of answering the question. Yeah, of course he should have been sleeping. He just couldn't.

Chewbacca shook his head and with a quick move he snatched his half finished caf away.

"This keeps you up!" he rumbled. The wookiee placed the cup way out of his reach, which made Luke smile. It would have been easy to levitate that cup back to himself, but he chose not to antagonize his friend.

"I had a dream," he confessed in the end.

Chewbacca tilted his head to the side and watched him curiously. "A vision?"

"Stars! I hope it wasn't." Luke sighed and turned away from the other. Chewbacca moved past him and busied himself with the foodprocessor. A minute or two later the heavenly smell off hot chocolate filled the air. Luke blinked at the wookiee surprise clear on his face.

"It can make this?" he asked when Chewbacca placed a mug into his hands. He sniffed the warm liquid and let out a happy sigh when the smell invaded his nostrils.

Chewbacca ruffled his hair kindly, then sat down next to him. "What did you dream about?"

Luke made a half-hearted attempt to rearrange his stubborn locks but gave up after a try.

"I don't know if I should." he said softly. "Yoda and Ben told me that the future is always in motion. These visions are dangerous, when you try to fight against it... I shouldn't really."

"Telling me wouldn't make it happen." Chewbacca placed his hand back onto his head. Stars, that wookiee's hand was heavy!

"It... It wouldn't happen either way." Luke said defiantly. No! Han wouldn't!

"What did you dream about?"

A quick expansion of his senses confirmed that Han was still sleeping peacefully, so he gave in finally.

"It was Han." confessed softly. "I saw him commit suicide."

Chewbacca stilled and did say anything for a while. When spoke again his voice sounded off for Luke.

"It won't happen!"

"I know!" the blond man mumbled. He rubbed his face with his hand and effectively hid it. "It's stupid!"

The heavy hand ruffled his hair again shootingly.

"Not stupid. But I assure you it won't happen!" Chewbacca rumbled.

Luke nodded and sipped his chocolate slowly. Chewbacca offered to tell him one of the many Wookiee legends he knew and Luke accepted with a smile.

***  
Han strode through the busy street of Oyria. The cantina where Luke and Savijos Stikel, their spy was meeting was only a corner and a street away from him. Luke wanted to meet the man alone, but it was not an option for Han. He had objected against this whole mission from the start, but after finding Luke half-dozing in the lounge area while Chewbacca rumbling one of his favourite stories had cemented his resolve. According the wookiee Luke'd had a nightmare, but no one had told him what it had been about. It didn't matter though. He would have his friends back no matter what.

He rounded the corner and effectively slammed against someone. After righting himself he uttered an apology to the cloaked man not wanting to cause trouble this time. The other nodded at him and turned to leave. Han continued his way towards the cantina, but after a step or two a sudden dizziness got hold of him. He steadied himself against the wall next to him and tried to ride it out, but it didn't get better. Actually, it got even worse. His legs started to tremble and he slowly sank onto the ground. Despite the hellish vertigo he registered that the cloaked man was back and towered over him. His sluggish mind registered that he literally walked into a trap. His last thought before passing out was that through his religious mumbo-jumbo Luke must sense what happened to him.

***

Waking up was as bad as passing out. The fact that he found himself strapped down onto a hard surface mercilessly by every limb possible didn't help either. Even his head was restrained by a strap across his forehead. He stamped down on his growing panic. Something moved in his peripheral vision and few second later a man stepped into his line of sight.

"Oh, you are awake!" the unpleasant voice belonged to a gray middle-aged man. His black eyes had a glint in them that sent shivers down on Han's back.

"Who the kriffing hell are you?" he hissed at his kidnapper.

"Not important!" the man sing-songed, then turned away from him "You will help me with something!"

"In your dreams!" Han tugged at his restrains, but none of them gave.

"Oh you will!" the man turned back and leaned over him with a creepy smile. "You will kill Luke Skywalker for me!"

Cold red fury filled Han as he glared up at the madman above him. "You are out of your kriffing mind! You will be the one I'll kill!"

The man smile grew showing yellow teeth. "You don't understand!"

He held up a syringe for him to see. Han felt panic rise again.

"You will kill Luke Skywalker and then you'll end yourself!"

With that he leaned forward and pushed the needle into the helpless ex-smuggler's arm.

***  
Savijos Stikel was not a professional, at least not in his opinion. He was jittery, talked way too much about nothing. Luke didn't manage to keep the conversation on track. It didn't help that he couldn't concentrate, because of the growing unease he felt. He tried to probe the Force for the source of that bad feeling, but no answer came.

"Stikel, please just give me the datacard, then we can go, okay?" he was running out of patient and he couldn't seem to care anymore. When he had walked into the crowded cantina he had expected to receive the datacard, give the payment to the spy and get out. However, after waiting twenty minutes for Stikel to arrive, he had spent another ten listening to the worries of the other human.

"My payment," Stikel started slowly after a tiny silence. "I need more kredit."

Luke wasn't prepared for the bargaining battle he found himself in. It took several more minutes, but in the end the only way out was to pay the higher price. When finally Skitel left hurriedly, he couldn't help, but slump in his seat a little. He would have a word or two with Rieekan regarding what had happened here. He wearily got to his feet and set out for the half hour long walk back to the Falcon. His steps were heavy with the dark cloud of unease that settled upon him.

He arrived back to the ship without being threatened or mugged or whatever. He walked up on the lowered ramp of the Falcon and called out for his comrades.

"You are back!" Chewie greeted him.

"Where is Han?" Luke asked with a frown. He couldn't sense his friend on the Falcon and the unease attacked with full force again.

"He said he had something to take care of." the wookiee replied. "So, he probably sat around in the cantina watching over you."

Luke shook his head. "He was not there. I would have felt it. Something is off. I gonna find him."

Chewie stopped him by grabbing his arm and spun him back to face him. "Pup! It's probably just the remnant of your dream. Han can take care of himself. Go, relax."

"But..." Luke glanced at the ramp. He really should look for him.

"Give him an hour, okay?"

Luke nodded reluctantly. Chewbacca stirred him to the lounge area and made him sit down. After a couple of sighs he collected himself and reached out for the Force. He was way too agitated to meditate, but the presence of that mysterious power helped. He waited through that one standard hour, but when Han didn't appear, he jumped to his feet. He took two steps, but stopped when he felt the familiar presence approaching. He let out a sigh of relief and went to greet the man with Chewbacca. When he saw his friend, Luke noted that Han's clothes were dusty and his hair was a mess.

"Han? You okay?" he asked.

The older man shrugged and walked past him. "Yeah. Just had something to take care of. Chewie, can we talk for a sec?"

Luke watched his friends disappear in the captain's quarters with a worried frown. He wandered back to the lounge area. Something bad was about to happen, he knew it. He had to speak with Han.

He heard footsteps approaching. He recognized Han's presence in the Force. He stepped to the caf-maker and prepared two cups. When he heard the other man step into the lounge area he started speaking.

"I know that you don't like this mumbo-jumbo of mine, but something's gonna happen and I don't know what. It makes me w---"

He heard strange click from behind him and his danger sense screamed warning at him. He spun around and to his shock he found himself facing the muzzle of Han's blaster.

Han pulled the trigger.

***

Chewbacca roared furiously. He had barely stepped into the captain's quarters when Han had stunned him and when he had woken up, he had found the door locked. Something was terribly wrong with his friend and the pup was alone with him. He slammed himself against the durasteel door but it didn't bulge. He turned his attention to the lock mechanism. He had to get out of there. However, before he could tamper with the wires, the door opened with a quiet hiss. He blinked down at the little astrodroid that appeared in front of him. Artoo shrieked in distress and that snapped him out of his surprise.

He ran to the lounge area and arrived there just in time to see Han raising his blaster to his own temple. With a roar he slammed himself against the smaller human and knocked the weapon out of his hand. Han whirled around and with a snarl attacked him. Weaponless. It was not a smart move against a wookiee and a second later the ex-smuggler collapsed to the ground effectively knocked out.

***

Han was waken by a throbbing headache. He felt like something the rancor spit out. With a groan he tried to role to the side but he was stopped by his right arm that didn't't move with him. He glanced at his hand in confusion. It took some time for his vision to clear, but when it did his confusion just escalated by finding himself cuffed to his bunk by his right hand. He sat up quickly and regretted it immediately when waves of dizziness washed over him. He screwed his eyes shut and waited for his world to right itself. When it finally did, he looked around in his quarters. His eyes fell upon Chewbacca who was standing next to Artoo near the door.

"What's going on?" he asked the wookiee.

"Question of the year!" Chewie shot back. "Where is the Pup?"

"What? What are you talking about? And what's that?" he demanded as he rattled the cuff with his right hand.

Chewbacca didn't say anything else, but he patted Artoo's dome. The droid slowly rolled forward and activated its projector. The recording showed Luke standing in front of the caf-maker and then Han walked in. The ex-smuggler watched with horror as his virtual self raised his blaster and aimed it at Luke's back. The younger man whirled around, but he was late and Han pulled the trigger. The young Jedi collapsed to the ground. The ex-smuggler stepped forward and pushed his hands under his friends armpits, pulled him up against his own chest, then he carried him out of the recording.

Han kept staring where the projection had been even when Artoo ended it.

"I didn't kill him. I used stunt, right?" he asked after a horror filled silence. "What happened?"

"You used a speeder. Artoo couldn't follow you. When you got back you tried to kill yourself. I knocked you out, but you woke up soon and attacked us, so I stunned you." Chewie explained, his voice softer now.

"Kriffing hell!" Han hissed and rubbed his face forcefully. "We have to find him!"

_You will kill Luke Skywalker for me!_

He stilled and concentrated on the memory that tried to break to the surface.

"There was this guy." he started speaking slowly. "He injected something into me. He wanted me to kill Luke and when I do, kill myself too."

He swallowed and stared up at the wookiee with panic. "We have to find Luke!"

The man had ordered him to kill himself once the job was done. And he tried to end himself. No, that couldn't be!

"You need to remember!" Chewbacca pressed. "Where did you take the Pup?"

Han searched his memory, but after the injection there was nothing. He ran a shaky hand through his hair. Think! Think! Think! Wait!

"The speeder! Where is the speeder?"

***

Luke pushed down on his growing panic. Who knows how long ago, he had woken up in a dark place. His hands were chained together and to the wall above his head and he was sitting in water that reached his waist. The water was slowly rising and it was cold. Like Hothish cold.

First, he had tried to use the Force to get out of the chains, but to his horror he had found that he lost his connection to it. That had been the first time he started hyperventilating.

After fighting down the panic-attack, he tried to find out where he was. The place was circular shaped and the walls were really high. He hadn't seen many wells in his life given that he had grew up on a desert planet, but that was what he imagined that a well looked like. Though, he couldn't figure out why was the water rising.

It was a problem though, because it already reached his chest.

Thankfully the chains allowed him to turn to the side and rose to his knees. It was not much, but something none the less. He leaned against the wall and sighed tiredly. He needed help and he needed it sooner rather than later.

He was well aware of the fact that he had stopped shivering a while ago.

_Han_?

***

He was right about the speeder. It had a navigation system which contained the vehicle's last destination. It wasn't that far, but they chose to travel with the Falcon, because it was faster and it had medical equipments.

The coordinates led them to an old and abandoned industrial yard. The Falcon barely touched the ground, but Han was already rushing outside.

"This place is huge!" he breathed exasperatedly.

They called out for Luke, but no answer came. Han took few tentative steps. _Where_?

He felt a nudge. It was very similar to what he felt on Hoth when he searched for Luke in the blizzard. He followed it without hesitation. Few minutes later he strode into the third building that had been on his left. Chewbacca was on his heels followed by Artoo. The ex-smuggler looked around frantically, but there was no sign of Luke and no one replied when he called out for him.

"He was here." Chewbacca sniffed the air. "I smell it!"

The two of them searched through the building, but there was no sign of the young Jedi. Han tugged angrily on his own hair when he met up with Chewbacca again on the ground-floor and the wookiee shook his head. However, when he glanced to the side, his eyes were drawn to a huge slab of durasteel. It looked familiar.

"Help me move it!" he shouted at the wookiee and the two of them all but threw it out of the way. There was a well under it. Its diameter was probably two standard meters, but it was way too deep for comfort. Despite the darkness, he spotted something down there.

"Luke!" he called again. No real answer came, but there was a soft sound and he needed no other confirmation.

"Get a rope!" he asked Chewie.

The wookiee raced out to the Falcon, but was back few minutes later with a thick and long rope. They had a tiny argument about who would go down, but Han's reasoning that he was smaller and there was not much space won. He tied the rope around his own waist, then when Chewbacca signaled that he was ready, he started down into the well. He was careful to aim his landing away from the slumped figure on the bottom of the well. The cold as hell water was a shock to his body and prompted him to speed up this rescue.

He hissed as he squatted down next to Luke and took in his state. Despite the poor light he saw that they younger man's lips were blue. Not good sign.

"Luke?" he asked gently and placed his hand onto the other's cheek. Luke's eyelashes fluttered, but that was it. He had to call out the name of the other few more times to get a reaction. Then though Luke blinked up at him owlishly.

"Hi!" Luke drawled, a sheepish smile formed on his face. "I think I've gotten my self into trouble again."

Han returned the smile weakly than turned his attention to the chains. He quickly found that the lock was ruined on both of them. Some strange black substance covered the chains.

"What's that?"

"Dunno. Maybe that's why can't conn't to Forc'." Luke mumbled. His slurring got worse and he kept blinking slowly. And the water kept rising around them.

They had to hurry up.

"Chewie! I need a blaster!" he shouted. Chewbacca let out a reluctant growl, but few seconds later after a warning he threw a blaster down to them. Han caught the weapon. He gently pulled Luke's hands out of the way as best as he could, then he aimed the blaster at those links that were connected to the wall. He pulled the trigger and the chain gave. Luke was already unresponsive when he hugged him against his own chest. Han called out to Chewie and the wookiee pulled them up. As soon as they were up, Chewbacca picked up the Jedi and rushed to the Falcon with him. Han all but tore the rope off his waist and hurried after them.

Inside the ship the wookiee lied the young man gently down onto the medbunk and activated the scanner. He was getting him out of his wet clothes, when Han burst into the room.

"How is he?" he panted.

"Hypothermia." Chewbacca growled, then he glanced meaningfully at Han's clothes. "You should change too."

The ex-smuggler made a face very similar to a rebuked child's, but he nodded and left them alone. When he wandered back to them, Chewbacca had already changed Luke into a loose fitting pair of pants and a covered him with heavy blankets.

"We need to do something about those cuffs." the wookiee rumbled.

"I'll get the hydrocutter." Han nodded and went to collect the tool. They carefully cut off the cuffs and Chewie wrapped bacta patches around Luke's left wrist. He couldn't do anything for his damaged prosthetic though.

"I gave him antibiotics, but the risk of a serious infection is still high. He needs proper medical care." Chewbacca sighed as he gently patted Luke's dark blond hair.

"Ackbar and the Home One is staying on Corellia." Han offered. His wookiee friend nodded and the two of them left Luke in Artoo's care while they prepared to take off.

***

Chewbacca had been right regarding the infection. Few hours into their journey Luke's temperature started rising. He woke up few times confused and agitated. Chewbacca and Han took turns in sitting vigil next to him.

This time it was Han who sat next to the bed when Luke's eyes snapped open and he shot upright.

"Hey! Hey!" Han hushed and gently maneuvered the younger man back to bed by his shoulders. "It's okay! You are okay!"

Luke blinked at him with hazy blue eyes. "Han? You okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay." Han smiled weakly.

"You didn't hurt yourself." Luke sighed with visible relief. "I was worried."

Han ruffled the younger man's dark blond locks and chose to say nothing. His throat was too tight anyway. Luke frowned up at him and tried to get up again, but Han gently pushed him back down.

"You feel funny." Luke mumbled and tried to shoo away his friend's hands.

"You speak funny." Han countered.

"Stupid" Luke mumbled. He turned to his side and burrowed his face into his pillow with a sigh. He fell asleep nearly immediately. Han moved the scanner over his friend when a shiver ran through his lithe frame and noted with worry that Luke's temperature continued to climb.

Things just got worse. By the time they reached Home One, the scanner was saying pneumonia. Han sighed with relief when a 2-1B take over control of the sick Jedi.

His relief was short-lived though, because Ackbar turned his huge head towards him and asked the dreaded question.

_What happened?_

***

Luke sighed tiredly when he finally managed to button up his shirt. Stars, it was tiring! He scoffed at his boots which sat innocently on the floor. Too much energy required. With a sigh he lay down across his bed. It took him a week to overcome his pneumonia despite 2-1B's endeavor. It seems like he had manage to encounter a hard core pathogenic and rare microbe. He was lucky that he was a force-sensitive, because it gave him the right amount of advantage in this fight. It turned out his body creates antibodies twice faster than an average human's. Something 2-1B found very interesting.

However, the higher-ups managed to make everything unnecessarily difficult. Somehow the blame for this whole fiasco fell upon Han which meant that the ex-smuggler hadn't been allowed to leave the Home One or visit him while the investigation wasn't closed. It didn't matter that 2-1B had found inactivated microdroids in Han's blood which explained his strange behaviour.

This whole situation paired with his sickness pushed him off balance, so when he had found out why Han hadn't been visiting, he had asked for Mon Mothma, Madine and Rieekan. According to Leia he had scared the hell out of those three, but he had succeeded and a hour later he managed to speak to Han finally. Which ended with him scaring the self-accusation out of his friend. Stars, he couldn't remember if he had ever been so pissed off like that day. Even Leia had seemed a bit shyer.

In the end Intel managed to identify their attacker, Sanlui Caumur, but they couldn't find him. Luke sighed to himself. Another mystery to explore. Which he would, he promised to himself. no one messes with his friends brain.

"I thought that you wanted to leave."

Luke grinned when he heard Han's voice.

"I still wanna, but getting dressed is too much work."

"Forget it! I'm not putting your boots on!" Han crossed his arms.

"Nah!" Luke drawled "Pretty please?"

"Forget it!" the ex-smuggler huffed.

"Hmmm... Very pretty please?"

 

 

 

 


	2. Baby Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han has a tiny problem. Luke is more or less forced to help.

It had been a busy few days. Luke mused as he pulled a comfortable old T-shirt on. Ben had been born a week ago and turned their world upside-down in the good way. Luckily, there had been no complications, both mother and son were perfectly well. Leia had been cleared for work yesterday too. Luke sighed happily and flopped down onto his bed. Life was finally looking good.

He was half asleep, when his commlink started beeping furiously. With a groan he reached for the annoying device and answered it with a basically growled version of his name. 

“Kid! You have to come over! Now!”

The young Jedi shot up in alarm when he heard the frantic way Han spoke.

“I’m on my way!” he called back and rushed out of his apartment bare foot, though he remembered to call his lightsaber to himself with the Force on the way. He entered the security codes into the controls of the opposite apartment door and rushed in ready for anything dangerous.

“Whew! You are here!” Han cried as he walked up to him. The ex-smuggler frowned at his lightsaber. “Why’d ya bring that?”

“What’s the emergency?” Luke asked. He didn’t sense anyone else in the apartment other than Han and Ben. He blinked up at his brother-in-law as his alarm turned into confusion.

“You won’t believe it!” Han exclaimed and waved his arms around. “Leia was called in for a meeting!”

Luke blinked again. He narrowed his eyes as Han spun around and strode deeper into the apartment. Luke followed him slowly. Ben’s baby chair was placed in the middle of the living-room. His huge dark eyes focused on Luke, when he stepped into the room. The blond adult looked around, but didn’t find anything out of place.

“This is hardly an emergency!” he commented.

Han spun back to him gaping. “Hardly an emergency? Hardly an emergency?” his voice more or less was an octave higher this time. “Don’t you understand? She left me alone with Ben! This is an emergency!”

Luke sighed and rubbed his eyes. “You could have called Winter for help, if you are not sure how to take care of him.”

“I can’t!” Han huffed with annoyance. “She is on the List!”

Luke frowned again. “What list?”

Han grabbed a datapad from the caf-table and shoved it into his hands. There was list of names on the screen, mostly people who had kids themselves or knew how to take care of one. The file was named ‘People You Can’t Call’. Luke was not on the list. In his confusion, he opened up his connection to his twin and sent an image of the list to her. She replied immediately the same way with a mental picture of her changing diapers, rocking Ben in the middle of the night, while Han was waving at her from the other end of the room.

_And me?_ Luke asked mentally. As a reply, he appeared in the image standing next to Han and waving too. Luke sent a huge amount of annoyance through the bond and got back a grinning image of Leia. He ended the Force-chat and huffed loudly.

“What did she say?” Han asked eagerly.

“That you need to learn how to take care of Ben!” Luke replied and turned on his heels. “Goodnight!”

He didn’t get far though. Han grabbed his arm and spun him back to the baby chair. Ben blinked up at him with his way too huge eyes.

“You are not going anywhere!”

Luke looked exasperatedly at his brother-in-law. “Han. This is your son! I’m his uncle. That means, that you have to deal with the bad stuff, and I get the good stuff! Now, spend time with your child!”

“Are you out of your mind? Do you know how easily babies die? You picked them up wrong you can break their necks. You touch them wrong, you can break their tiny arms or legs. You look at them wrong and… they cry. Loudly. Non-stop” Han explained and waved his arms around.

“I think you are exaggerating, but thanks for the mental image. It really helps!” Luke said sarcastically. Sighing he glanced at the child who was watching them curiously. Okay, he is a Jedi. This shouldn’t be a problem.

“Okay, we can do this!” he said loudly and nodded to himself. “So, what does he need?”

“I have no idea.” Han replied almost cheerfully.

This not gonna be easy. Luke thought to himself exasperatedly. He reached for Jedi calm, because he felt really tempted to hit his brother-in-law. And use his right hand.

“You grew up on Tatooine. Small communities who stick together? There had to be a baby or two, no?” Han added.

Another exasperated sigh left the blond man’s lips. “This is the problem. I grew up on Tatooine and I was the youngest one in our group. Not much baby experience.”

“Damn!” Han hummed.

“Let’s just make a list, okay?” Luke offered. “Babies this young eat and sleep most of the time.”

“And poop.” Han added eagerly.

The moment the word left Han’s mouth, Ben let out a strange noise. The two adults startled and snapped their attention to the child. In a moment or two an awful smell invaded Luke’s nostrils.

“The Force is testing me.” he groaned. His arms shot out and grabbed Han’s as the older man started inching backwards away from them. “We need to change his diaper!”

“Exactly!” Han tried to escape again, but Luke’s grip was firm as durasteel around his arm. “You don’t know true horror till you try to do that!”

“Than we shall face true horror.” Luke said and stepped to the baby chair pulling Han with him. Ben made an unhappy noise and waved his tiny arms a bit. Like his father when he is agitated.

“It’s okay, we got this!” the blond man murmured to the child (or himself?). He let go of Han’s arm, but before the man could bolt out of the room, he grabbed him with the Force.

“Hey!” Han protested, but couldn’t struggle himself out of Luke’s mental grip. In the meantime, Luke tentatively reached for the child and when Ben didn’t protest, he gently picked him up. He felt awkward and tried not to picture thousand ways how he could hurt the baby.

“To the nursery!” he ordered Han. The older man grumbled under his nose, but lead the way to Ben’s tiny room. In there, Luke laid the baby onto the changing table and pushed his brother-in-law in front of it.

“I don’t know how!” Han protested weekly. Luke just crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the man. Han let out a sound that dangerously resembled a whimper, but reached for the diaper. Somehow Ben sensed his father’s negative emotions and his tiny lips started trembling. Luke sent a reassurance to the baby trough the Force. Ben startled a little and blinked up at his uncle. Luke smiled and gave a little wave to the child and got a baby laugh back. One point for him!

In the meantime, Han managed to open the diaper and with a quick move he pulled it out from under his son and closed it quickly. Luke grabbed the dirty diaper with the Force and levitated it to the bin. He was sure that this counted cheating, but hey, they were beginners!

“Clean him up.” Han mumbled to himself and gently wiped Ben’s tiny butt with wet wipes. He even stuck his tongue out in concentration as he put a fresh diaper onto the baby.

“Finished!” he declared proudly. “Diaper high five!”

He gently touched his open palm to Ben’s tiny hand. The baby let out a happy gurgling sound and his huge dark eyes lit up. Luke wished for a camera desperately.

“Poop check!” the blond man grinned. “Food?”

“Leia fed him before she left. That was an hour ago.” Han replied. He reached his hand towards the baby, but pulled them back quickly and pushed them into his pockets.

Luke frowned as he started to understand the main problem finally. Han wanted to take care of his child, but he was totally terrified of him. Well, this need to chance now!

“Pick him up!” he ordered and walked to the door.

“I… I think he is comfortable here.” Han protested. Just to disprove him, Ben’s tiny lips turned downwards.

“Pick. Him. Up!” Luke stabbed towards the older man with his finger with every word.

Han actually gulped, but reached for the child again. Cautiously he lifted the little body up and pulled him against his chest. The change was instantaneous. Han’s face turned from terrified to bright with joy. His hazel eyes looked more green as he stared at the little child in his arms. He slowly turned to his brother-in-law and those eyes radiated so much happiness, that it actually brightened the room around them.

“He is mine!” Han whispered with awe.

“Yes, he is.” Luke smiled gently at the pair. “Come on, let’s tire him out!”

***      

Leia walked into the apartment cautiously. The place was way too quiet for comfort as she inched inside slowly. She hoped that her plan didn’t backfire, but Han needed to bond with his son and who was better buffer for it than Luke?

She stepped into the living-room and froze to the spot. There, on the couch Han lay sprawled out on his back as much as his tall frame allowed. Ben lay on his chest, his tiny fist clutching the man’s shirt tightly. Both of them were sound asleep.

“I have holos!” a soft voice whispered into her ear from behind her. She didn’t jump though. She would recognize this presence anywhere, anytime. She reached back and grabbed Luke’s left hand with her own.

“You did good!” she praised.

“He figured out most of it on his own.” She could feel Luke’s smile.

“Though, I’d like to go to sleep too.” he added with a tiny huff.

“We should get them to bed.” Leia mused.

“Well…” Luke started slowly. “Dibs Ben!”

“Luke!”

“You married him!”


	3. Hoth Like Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There had been a very long night on Hoth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dedicate this to one of my dear readers, who gave me this plot-bunny. I have lots of ideas, but I'm always open to new plot-bunnies! Enjoy!

This was Hell. He could barely think straight as his fingers dug into the snow and fumbled with the shelter. His mind replayed his frantic ride on the Tautaun, the small tug he thought he felt in his head that somehow led to his more dead than alive friend.

No! He shook his head. Luke was still alive and fighting so he better gets this kriffing thing standing or else!

There was no need for or else, because finally the shelter stood against the blazing snowstorm. He hurried back to the dead animal and with a curse he dug Luke out of the snow and the corpse. Despite the winter gear on the younger man, Luke was still light and he got him into the shelter in no time. Most of the snow remained outside. But stars the smell… He heard once that the olfactory receptors get tired out quickly. After a while he started doubting that... 

He got the tiny heating unit out of his back-bag and started it. He had serious doubts about the amount of heat it could produce, but it was something.

He ignored the smell and pulled Luke against his chest. He grabbed Luke’s hands by the wrists and tugged them under the younger man’s armpits gently.  

“We need to take care of those fingers, kid!” he murmured softly.

He leaned against to the shelter on the side which was held up by a wall of snow from the outside and made himself as comfortable as possible.

“This was the hardest part, Luke. Now you just have to hold on. No big deal, yeah? Kid.” he kept talking just to hear something else other than the howling of the wind from outside and his own dark thoughts.

He glanced down onto Luke’s face that rested against his shoulder. He winced at the angry wound on his face. He wished he could do something about it, but that small amount of bacta they had in their med-kit was frozen stiff. Just like the young man in his arms.

“Come on! I left you alone for what? An hour or something and you find trouble on a planet where there is basically no wildlife.” He reconsidered his statement after another glance at the wound. “Or you found the only one that is here.”

Really, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Just thinking back on the events of the last few years proved that Luke plus alone equals with trouble. Take him to a cantina, you get a handful of stormtroopers chasing you with blasters blazing. Take him along to a smuggling business, you get a handful of pirates chasing you with blasters blazing. Tell him to sit down and don’t touch anything, you get to be chased across a jungle planet by a huge lizard like creature and it ends with a swimming lesson… At least Luke had learnt how to swim…

Take him to Ord Mantell and… he is not going there. It hadn’t been Luke’s fault, but he still managed to be the one who ended up missing his spleen because of a blaster bolt. It should have been Han, because that one was on him, but… Life was crueler than that and Luke was way too kind than what he should have been.

Suddenly Luke shifted in his arms and murmured something softly.

“Are you with me, kid?” Han asked hoping.

“Chewie… Can you tell Han that the heating is broken again?”

Han blinked. That was new. No one ever had mistaken him for a wookiee before. He is not that hairy, hey!

“I’m Han and we are stuck outside a snowstorm on Hoth, not in the Falcon.” he replied patiently.

“You sure?” Luke shifted again. “Chewie is the cuddly one…”

“We are not cuddling!” Han protested, but didn’t loosen his hold on the young rebel commander. He was well aware that Luke still wasn’t shivering. “We are sharing body heat.”

“Tell Han also that I’m pretty sure that something died in here. Or he really should do his laundry…” the last part was barely a whisper, but Han’s keen ears still registered the words. He rolled his eyes, but a chuckle found its way out of him. Kind... yeah…

The wind continued to roar outside, but the shelter stood strong against it and Han was left alone with his own thoughts. His mind turned back to its favorite subject nowadays, Han Solo’s not so bright future. He knew that dealing with Jabba would be really hard, if not impossible, but he never liked thinking about the odds, so he avoided them. And after that? He glanced down at Luke. If he survives this… the Rogues, who were as fond of their young commander as him, would probably manage to take care of him long enough for Han to return. Because he would return. For Luke… and for the Princess. He sighed. He had to admit to himself, that like it or not, he fell head over heels for the woman. Girl, really… Surprisingly she was the same age as Luke. They actually shared their birthday too. Hah! Empire's Day! The greatest joke of the Galaxy. 

“Where is it?” Luke’s soft murmur disturbed his thoughts again.

“What is where?” he asked back gently.

His friend stared at the shelter above them and hummed. “… Dagobah… Where is it?”

Han had to think about it for a moment. The name was familiar. He should know, he had memorized the map of the Galaxy when he planned escape routes.

“Erm… Sluis sector, I think… Why?”

Luke sighed and shifted closer to him, probably searching for more warmth.

“Yoda…” he mumbled, then escaped back to unconsciousness.

The younger man still wasn’t shivering, so Han started rubbing his arms. He thought about checking on Luke’s wounds, but he still lacked the proper equipment and didn’t want to cause more harm. He hoped that no bacteria could survive in this hellish weather. Luke didn’t need an infection on the top of it all.

Han checked on his chrono and hissed when he saw that they needed to wait at least three standard hours for the rebels to be able to send a search party for them. He silently cheered for the younger man to hold on for a bit more. His movements must have disturbed Luke, because he shifted again. This time he managed to press the injured side of his face into Han’s coat. Luke woke with a jerk of his head and a hoarse yelp.

“Stang!” he cursed and moved his hand sluggishly towards the wound. His eyes were still cloudy, but somehow the intensity of the pain made them somewhat brighter than before.

Han grabbed Luke’s hand and navigated it back down. “Hey! Hey! It’s okay! Don’t touch it!”

“What?” Luke breathed. His blue eyes searched the shelter with confusion.

“Hey!” Han called out again and tightened his hold till Luke stopped struggling against him. “Are you with me?”

“Think so…”

“Do you remember what happened?” Han prompted.

Luke’s eyes found the heating unit and its gentle light managed to ground the rebel commander finally. “Wanted to check out the meteor. I… don’t think I got to it though…”

“You were attacked by something. You remember what?”

“Hmm…” Luke blinked at the heating unit. “Big… white… now it’s missing an arm…”

Han grinned at that. That lightsaber just managed to be good for something finally.

“Poor thing…” Luke sighed.

“Did you really just say poor thing?” Han gapped.

Luke closed his eyes. “… was hungry… not h’s faul’… Gonna sleep now…”

“I’d prefer if you stay awake,” Han shook him gently.

The younger man blinked his eyes open owlishly, but they fell closed again in a moment.

“Nope…”

And that was it. He was out cold again. Han checked again, but this whole conversation only took exactly eight standard minutes. Still many more to go.

Han needed something to occupy his mind which preferred to be on the gloomy side nowadays, so he made a mental list of things he hated about this damn place. He had an impressive ability to enumerate the annoying things in life and managed a helluva list in the end. A quick check… but only a standard quarter hour had passed. He needed another mental exercise. What about the good things about Hoth? Well, that was hard. The Princess looked pretty in white. The Rogues had enough time on their hands for the shenanigans to start. Those were fun to watch. Or sometimes participate in them…

And there was the time when Luke first arrived onto Hoth. That had been… adorable…

The Falcon had arrived with Rogue Squadron and with Princess Leia on board. When they had entered the atmosphere of Hoth, Luke’s stunned voice had come through their transceiver asking about what all of that white had been. His question had been followed by a sudden transceiver silence till the commander grumping had come again allowing them to laugh as much as they want. (Actually, everyone had been awwwing in their ships, but Luke didn’t have to know that.) After landing Han had watched through the viewport as Luke had opened the canopy of his X-wing and froze in the middle of getting out of the ship. His blue eyes had widened, then hopped back into the ship and closed the canopy. He had claimed that there was no way he would exist on a planet that cold. It had taken the whole Squadron and the Princess to get him out again. (Han had been laughing way too hard to help). As the blond youth had landed in the snow, his grumpiness had turned into awe again. The members of the Squadron had remained wisely in silence as Luke examined the snow. Until someone had hit the boy with a snowball on the face. (It had been Han). Not even a minute had passed, but the small group had managed to engage into an epic snowball fight. After Wedge had given the basics to Luke, the blond man had proven again how good a marksman he was and Han had ended up with more snow on his clothes than anyone else. Rieekan had to broke up their snowball fight, but stars, the Princess had been so beautiful with that happy glint in her eyes!

Suddenly Luke had moved in his arms and the distressed sound that escaped from his lips shattered the happy memory.

“Han! Where are you going!” Luke all but cried.

Han froze for a moment which was enough for one of Luke’s hands to escape from his hold. The blond man fingers wrapped around the smuggler’s arm and formed a vice-like grip.

“Where are you going?”

“Hey!” Han tried to reassure the younger man. “It’s okay. I’m here. Not going anywhere.”

Right now at least…

Luke’s blue eyes were cloudy and they moved around rapidly searching for something that wasn’t there.

“Don’t go! The asteroids are dangerous!” Luke panted. His hold on Han’s arm tightened even more.

“It’s okay, Luke! We’ll avoid the asteroids, okay? Hey, buddy! I’ll need my arm!”

It was clear though that none of his words reached Luke’s mind. The younger man still watched something on the side of the shelter, but his fingers hold on Han’s arm weakened.

“Shadows are lurking in the clouds.” Luke whispered softly. His eyes slipped closed, but his hand remained on Han’s arm as he disconnected from reality fully.

When Luke fully slackened in his arms, Han was left there stunned speechless. He could file it away as a delirious outburst, which could have been easily explained by Luke’s continously worsening condition. However, this wasn’t the first-time Luke had warned someone by shouting during a nightmare. After the second incident they had started paying attention. Wedge had a particular datacard containing notes of Luke’s nightmares. Distractedly he placed a gentle hand onto Luke’s forehead and maneuvered the sleeping boy's head back onto his shoulder.

He would be careful. He promised silently. He just wished that Luke could be more specific than that.

***

After the impossibly long night, Zev’s voice had been music for his ears. However, after spending the whole night holding Luke in his arms. It was nearly impossible to hand over the boy to the rescuers, but he fought down his protective instincts. Though he did end up in the med-bay demanding update on the boy’s condition the minute he arrived back to the Base. He remained next to the bacta-tank stubbornly, ignoring even the Princess and Chewbacca. He only allowed himself to relax a little, when after hours of suffocating worry 2-1B reported that Luke was out of danger and on the road of recovery. 

With the Empire's arrival all hell broke loose. 

He forgot about Luke’s delirious warning till the moment his eyes fell upon Darth Vader in Cloud City.      


	4. Sanctuary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a place, where he always felt safe.

Luke had found the secret compartment on his third stay on the Falcon. It was an underfloor compartment, small, only long enough for him to fit. It looked abandoned and it certainly wasn't the one Han had asked him to find, so he locked the hatch back and continued his search.

***

He had never imagined that being a rebel commander would mean so much work. Surviving a battle and bringing back his men more or less intact were just the beginning. It was followed by briefing, report writing and endless line of meetings. He hadn't slept since his last battle and that had been thirty-two hours ago. He groaned at his chorno. He had fought through the adrenaline crash and finished his work on his datapad (more or less),but he knew that the higher-ups would like have a word with him. Then another and another.

He wrapped his jacket around himself and stumbled out of this hole in the wall he called office. He made his way to their small spaceport. He needed to check on the repairs of his X-wing after all. Dantooine's cool breeze ruffled his hair and he shivered as a reply. On his better days he loved this planet. This was not one of them.

To get to his own ship he had to walk past the Falcon. He stopped at the corellian ship and a sudden thought invaded his tired mind. Here, he could rest for a few minutes. Just for a few...

He walked closer and spotted Chewbacca on the top of the hull. The wookiee growled a greeting.

"Hi! Is Han here?" Luke asked.

"No...You okay, Cub?" Chewbacca sounded worried.

"I'm fine. Mind if I... sit down inside?" he waved towards the ship.

"Go ahead!" Chewbacca nodded. Luke felt the wookiee's gaze on his back as he dragged himself up on the ramp of the Falcon.

***

Han arrived back to his ship at the same time as Airen Cracken. The rebel general approached him with a frown.

"Captain Solo! Have you seen Commander Skywalker?"

"No... Not since he got back. Chewie?" Han turned to his friend.

The wookiee roared something and Han was suddenly greatful that very few people there understood his friend.

"He hasn't seen him either!" he grinned awkwardly at the general's questioning gaze.

Cracken departed as briskly as he had arrived and Han rounded on his friend.  
"What was that, furrball?"  
  
"They are taking advantage of the Cub. They need to back off!" Chewbacca growled angrily.

Han frowned. Luke climbed the echelon really fast and his unique talents gave the Rebellion the advantage it clearly needed. Han knew from experience how easy it was to take Luke's seemingly endless energy granted.

"Is he in here?" he asked finally. He needed to check on the kid and take matters into hand.

Chewbacca nodded grumpily.

However, few minutes later Han stepped out of the Falcon with a frown on his face.

"Are you sure he hasn't left?" he asked the wookiee. "He is not in there."

Chewbacca growled negative and jumped off the ship. He strode past the smuggler and boarded the Falcon. He sniffed the air inside and started towards the lounge area.

"He is here. I can smell him."

"Well, sniff him out than!" Han huffed.

Indeed,the lounge area was empty. There was no Luke in the crew's quarters, nor in the captain's. The cargo compartment was devoid of the young rebel too. Chewie led him to one of the maintenance corridors. He stopped suddenly and sniffed the air again. He crouched down next to the maintenance station and opened a secret hatch. There was a secret compartment that they hadn't used in ages, because it was way too close to the engines and overheated quickly. Han had completely forgotten about it. And here he was, Luke sleeping in there peacefully.

Han rubbed his face. "Get me a blanket and wrap him up. I have a Princess to harass."

***

Han watched the rebel base through the viewport of the Falcon with a self-satisfied grin. It had only taken a quick remark of Luke's exhaustion for the Princess to explode on the higher-ups. It had been a fun show to watch!

He noticed the quiet steps that approached the cockpit.

"Han? ... Erm... I think I fell asleep and so... Thanks?"

Han glanced at the kid and nearly burst out laughing. Luke managed to look sill half-asleep and embarrassed in the same time. He was holding the blanket awkwardly in his arm offering it back to the owner.

"It's okay, just throw it down somewhere!"

Luke fumbled with it, but managed to fold it neatly and he placed it onto the navigator-seat. The younger man rubbed his face with a soft groan.

"I'm sorry though. I just heard General Cracken and I just wanted to rest for a minute. I remembered the compartment and so ..." he trailed off with a shrug.

Han stood and ruffled Luke's already messy hair.

"Like I said, it's okay."

***

Han learnt to check that certain secret compartment a month later. He was growing attached to the rebels and he knew he had to leave or he wouldn't be able to. So, he ordered Chewbacca back into the ship and they set off in the middle of the night. The rebels were leaving Dantooine for the next rebel base, so no one payed attention for their departure. Chewbacca had been giving him the silent treatment since their argument regarding this escape. It was annoying, but he had learnt to deal with annoying things.

They had barely jumped to hyperspace, when a sleepy voice called out for him.

"Han? Where are we going?"

The smuggler spun around and gapped at the young rebel commander standing behind him barefoot and wrapped in that familiar blanket. Luke's hair was messier than ever and he was blinking through his bangs with sleepy, owlish eyes.

The word 'damn!' ran through his mind on loop and it took a huge amount of concentration to get coherent words out of his mouth.

"The caf-maker is functional."

Luke gave him a sleepy nod and shuffled out of the cockpit. Han rounded on the snickering wookiee next to him.

"You knew he was here, right?"

Chewbacca managed the wookiee version of 'Who? Meee?', but he seemingly couldn't stop the snickering.

Cursing, Han pulled the ship out of hyperspace and put Dantooine's coordinates back. He might as well take the kid back. He didn't need the rebels to chase him around the Galaxy too, because he managed to kidnap their favourite hero.

***  
After Bespin insomnia was his constant companion. Arriving back to Tatooine had just made matters worse. Lando had already gone undercover in Jabba's lair and all it was left for him and the others to wait. Now, he understood why Yoda had said that he was impatient. He had left Leia sleeping in the captain's quarters. Chewbacca was somewhere on the Falcon too, his dim presence in he Force told him that he was sleeping too. That left him wander on the silent ship alone. He had to solve this problem of his, he knew that, but other than forcing himself into coma for a hour per night, nothing else seemed to work.

He stopped his pacing and noticed where he ended up. Crouching down, he opened the hatch of the secret compartment. The blanket that Han had declared as Luke's after his third nap in the compartment was there, folded neatly.

Luke's body moved on its own as he pulled the blanket out, wrapped it around himself and he climbed into the compartment. He snuggled into the blanket and the first time since Bespin, he found himself feeling safe enough to sleep.

***  
The kid looked like hell. Han noted as the celebration started to die down slowly. Leia had excused herself few minutes ago and Han set off to find her brother (Stars! What a twist!). He knew that he and Luke had lots of things to talk about. Han had a mental folder named Bespin for that chat. Though, he decided that this night wasn't the one as he spotted the young Jedi (Jedi! Stars!)

The ewoks were drawned to the young man like moths to light, which was cute and all, but Luke seemed like he would kneel over as soon as he lets go of he tree trunk he was leaning against. Han strode forward purposefully and wrapped an arm around the younger man's shoulders.

"Well, it's bedtime! To be continued tomorrow!" with that he stirred the half-heartedly protesting young man out of the circle of the ewoks.

"You need to sleep!" Han said matter of factly.

"I'm fine, Han! I'm not sleepy and the sun will be up soon. I'll have lot's of things to take care of!" Luke protested.

"Yes, you are! Yes, you are!" Han murmured. He lead him out of the ewok village. The Falcon was close and here he could make sure that the young man wouldn't be disturbed.

Luke gave up his protesting when he spotted the Falcon. Han wanted to lead him to the crew's quarters, but Luke stepped away from him and made his way to the secret compartment that Han started to call Luke's spot.

"We have perfectly functioning bunk-beds, you know." he commented as Luke opened the hatch. The young man growled something under his nose, then disappeared inside. Han shook his head with a fond smile.

***

Years went by. Their life had been amazing, then it turned into a living hell again. However, now, he thought tentatively, now thing looked not good, but better. He had the Falcon back, Leia was there, the Starkiller was destroyed and Luke... Luke somehow had found it in himself to come back and save the day once again. Han would never forget that moment, when he had stepped out of the shadows, the two kids stunned faces, Ben's shock, the feeling as that damn sith saber had been ripped out of his and his son's hand. Luke had looked tired, but he had smiled gently and told them that it was time to go home. Somehow all of them had managed to do that.

Luke's magic was still working, Han mused as he tinkered with the caf-maker in the lounge area of the Falcon. Jedi Master took Rey and Finn under his wings. Teaching the girl carefully, while he aided the boy to fit in with their unique society. There was more questions there though. Han hadn't missed the look on his brother-in-law's face, when he had first seen the girl. Han promised to himself that there would be a long and throughout chat about family and keeping secrets!

"Hey! Old man!"

Han turned around and saw Luke stepping into the lounge area.

"Back off with that old!" he hissed.

The Jedi Master walked to the storage compartment and pulled out a very familiar blanket.

"You haven't seen me!" Luke started without looking up. He unfolded the blanket and pulled it around himself. "You don't even know that I'm back. Even better, you don't know who I am. You don't even know if I exist!"

With that he strode past the smuggler and this appeared in the maintenance corridor.

"I won't ever understand your attachment to tiny, tight spaces!" he called after Luke with a grin.

Things looked better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, I don' like the last third of the Force Awakens... Sorry


	5. Ord Mantell

Han cursed at the readings on the tiny monitor. Despite their best efforts, they couldn’t repair the damage on his ship without stopping somewhere.

“Something?” Luke asked as he climbed out of a repair-hole. His smaller and skinny frame allowed them to do repairs they couldn’t for years, but it was not enough this time.

“Nothing.” Han huffed and walked back to the cockpit, Luke following him. Chewbacca roared something from the other end of them ship, which made Han groan.

“We are running out of funnel too.” Han explained. Luke slumped down into the co-pilot’s chair. Han brought up the Galaxy-map in the navigation system and starred at it with a frown. They needed to avoid the Imperials, which was nearly impossible in this system, but he had one idea. Only… he glanced at the kid… they had to do something about that.

“We have to stop at Ord Mantell.” he started.

“Okaaay.” Luke frowned at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“A minute.” Han hurried out of the cockpit. Luke slowly rose and followed him.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” he mumbled.

He caught up to Han in front of a storage compartment. The corellian pulled out a bottle and held it up triumphantly. “I have one more!”

Luke’s frown deepened. “What’s that exactly?”

“We need to dye your hair.” Luke backed away quickly as the older man approached menacingly with that bottle.

“What?”

“We are going to Ord Mantell. But… that place is full of bounty-hunters. You remember that nice bounty on that tiny blonde head of yours?”

Luke ran out of arguments after half hour and found himself sitting on a chair with eyes covered by his own hands and Han working on his hair with the hair dye.

“It comes out after two or three washes.” Han reassured him as he rubbed his hair with a towel. “Ta-daam!”

Han had to swallow down his laughter as Luke blinked up into the mirror that was placed in front of him by Chewie. The kid grimaced at the image and set out to right his messy dark locks. In the meantime, Han considered the boy. Luke kind of lost his innocent look. His shocking blue eyes showed strong contrast against his new messy black hair. Those blue orbs looked actually icy.  

“Stars!” Luke groaned as one stubborn lock of hair fell into his face again.

“It looks nice!” Han grinned.

Luke decided not to comment on that.

***

“So, these are the things what we need.” Han handed Luke a datapad that contained the list.

“That’s …  a lot.” the kid huffed as he read through it. “Do we have enough credits?”

Han scratched the back of his head. “Right now, credits not the problem. Time is. We need to split up. Can you promise not to get into trouble for a chance?”

Luke glared at him and slipped the datacard into his bag.

“One more thing!” Han called after him as the kid turned and prepared to leave with Artoo following closely behind. Luke turned back with a questioning face.

“Put that thing away!” Han motioned towards the lightsaber that hang from the kid’s belt. Sighing Luke unclipped it and offered the weapon to Artoo, who hided it in one of its secret tiny compartments.

“Happy now?” Luke turned with a huff.

“I will be happy if you manage to avoid trouble this time.” Han grinned.

“I’ll murder you in your sleep.” Luke mumbled under his nose as he slipped out of the ship.

***

IG-88B kept a close eye on the Millennium Falcon since it had noticed the ship landing in one of the docking-bays. Jabba the Hutt had given very detailed information of the smuggler who owned way too much credit to the crime lord. Well, it seemed like the smuggler had ran out of luck this time.

It watched from the shadows as a dark-haired youth slipped out of the ship. A quick scan and a search in its database ended with no matches and the droid disregarded the child. Few minutes later the subject of its interest appeared too. He didn’t move as carefully as the kid, he walked with purpose and self-confidence. Captain Solo made his way towards one on the repair men and after a short talk he left the docking-bay.

IG-88B followed the smuggler through the dirty crowd. After few quick calculations, it guessed the human’s destination. It stopped in the opening of an alley and watched as the man disappeared in a shop. So, it seemed the Falcon needed repairs. It worked in IG-88B’s favor. It had the perfect place for collecting the man.

The droid moved out of the alley and made its way back to the docking-bay.

***

Han stepped out of the shop and looked around uneasily. He had had that awful feeling through his walk here that someone was following him. The feeling was gone, but the uneasiness stayed. He was grateful that he had managed to find every part he needed in that particular shop and everything would be transported to the Falcon in a standard hour. He really hoped that the kid was equally successful and they could leave that damn planet quickly.

He slipped into the rolling crowd with his right-hand hovering above his blaster. His hazel eyes scanned the street as he moved towards the docking-bay. He didn’t spot anything amiss, but the uneasiness continued to grow. In the docking-bay every landing-platform had a separate corridor that led to it with several maintenance corridors linking them together.

Han stopped in front of the gate that led into the corridor to his ship. If he remembered correctly, there were three maintenance corridors in this one. He pulled his commlink close to his lips and called the ship.

“Keep your eyes open! I have a really bad feeling!” he called as soon as he heard Chewie’s questioning growl.

After ending the call, he stepped through the gate and pulled his blaster free. There were several crates here and there which he could use as cover. He kept close to them as he moved slowly towards the landing platform. The feeling of being trapped grew as he got closer. He got to the first maintenance corridor. He held his breath as he checked it with a sudden spin. It was clear. Two more to go. Yeah, but those two faced each other. There were two more crates he could use as cover, each of them between him and the corridors, but nothing after.

He passed the first crate. Nothing. The bad feeling that wrapped around him was suffocating.

He was pretty sure he had never moved so fast in his life before. His eyes barely registered the tiny part of black metal sticking out of the maintenance corridor on the right, but his legs had already moved. He was behind the crate even before the blaster bolt left the weapon. He raised his blaster over the crate and returned the fire. He cursed as his attacker kept him trapped behind his cover. He didn’t even see who it was. They continued to exchange blaster-bolts, but in this situation his attacker had the upper hand.

However, suddenly a louder explosion cut through their fight and he heard the loud roar of a wookiee. Han peeked over the crate and saw Chewie standing at the opening of the main corridor, while keeping his weapon on the smaller one which from he was attacked. They nodded at each other and approached it with caution. However, as they rounded the corner and prepared to shoot the attacker they found the maintenance corridor empty.

“Is Luke back?” Han asked tightly. Chewbacca shook his head with frustrated growl. “The parts will be here soon. Get the Falcon ready, but keep your eyes open! I’ll get Luke!”

***

IG-88B cursed as it made its escape through the maintenance corridors. He really hoped to get Solo before the wookiee had a chance to get between them. He needed a new plan. Somehow the smuggler didn’t set off with his ship after their tiny firefight. Either the Falcon is not ready to fly or… IG-88B stopped and considered the situation. The dark-haired boy! He must be out there still. Its new plan was formed by the time it left the docking-bay.

***

Luke pulled his jacked closer to himself as he crisscrossed between the humans and aliens that filled the streets. He got more or less everything that Han had put on the list, but it took more time than necessary. Mostly because that damn Twi’lek girl that attached herself onto him. She really loved his dark-haired, light-eyes combination. It took several lies to get rid of her.

He cursed Han and his bottle of awful smelling hair dye. He was still several streets away from the docking-bay when the crowd parted in front of him and he found himself face to face with a tall, black droid.

“Erm… Excuse me?” he asked when it became obvious that the droid was deliberately blocking his path. The other people moved away from them, but no one raised his head to check the situation. He recognized the tactic from Tatooine. Ignore the trouble and survive. He was on his own in this one.

“You are Captain Solo’s companion.” the droid stated.

“No, I’m not!” Luke grinned and slowly took a step backwards.

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

He was going to strangle the smuggler he decided as the droid raised a blaster and aimed it at him.

“You will come with me!”

Luke’s hand hovered over his own blaster, but he knew he wouldn’t manage to pull it free and shoot the droid before he got his own blaster-bolt between his own eyes.

“That would be lovely, but I really have to be somewhere else. I’m kinda late.” he explained quickly, while his eyes scanned the street for escape.

The droid moved suddenly, but Luke managed to duck out of the way, and the handle of the droid’s blaster flew over his head. However, the kick came faster than expected and he found himself laying on the ground gasping as his stomach clenched with pain. The droid leaned over and wrapped a mechanical hand around his throat and he was lifted up by his neck. He kicked at the droid, but the hit didn’t have any effect. He gripped the metal arm, but he had no chance of getting it to release him. He needed air desperately.

Change of plans. He would haunt Han till his death!

Suddenly Artoo’s shriek cut through his struggling. The little droid must have used his electroshock prod, because the black droid’s fingers snapped open and Luke fell to the ground. There was one tiny problem. It seemed like the droid was conductive. The young rebel commander was immobilized for several moments by the electroshock that ran through his body. Someone grabbed his shoulder and he was pulled backwards. He blindly hit at the hand.

“Stop struggling, kid!” He heard Han’s voice. He stilled and allowed the older man to pull him to his feet.

“I’ll chop ya down!” he promised with a slowly moving tongue.

“Yeah, yeah, come on!” Han pulled him forward, but something caught Luke’s eyes. The black droid kicked Artoo away and raised its blaster at them. Luke pushed the unsuspecting Han as hard as he could and managed to trip him.

Then his left side exploded with pain.

***

Han rolled on the ground as he heard Luke’s pained grunt. The kid fell to the ground next to him. Luke’s little astrodroid attacked the black droid again with a furious shriek and kept zapping it with its electroshock prod. Han aimed his blaster and hit their attacker in the middle of its chest. Sparks flew everywhere and suddenly the droid collapsed.

Han turned to the kid who lay on his back with one hand gripping his left side. Han cursed again when he saw the blood escaping from between the kid’s fingers.

“Come on! Come on!” he urged and pulled Luke up again. The kid fell against him, but managed to keep his shaking feet under him. Han had no illusions on how far they would get that way.

Suddenly, a familiar sound filled the air. The corellian snapped his head up and nearly cried out with joy as he spotted the Falcon approaching them. The ship managed to land between the houses, because the street was empty thanks to their confrontation with the droid. Han dragged Luke towards the lowering ramp, where Chewbacca met with them. The wookiee swept the kid up in his arms and hurried inside with him. Han raced after them with Artoo.

He hurried into the cockpit and raised the Falcon up. The only thing good with Ord Mantell was that there was no traffic control and no one stopped them as they left the planet.

“Get me the coordinates for the closest rebel flagship with med-wing!” he shouted at Artoo. He hoped the little droid didn’t take his harsh words to heart, but he had not brain left to keep himself together. He rushed to their med-bunk. Chewbacca was tending Luke’s wound as best as he could with their equipment, but the look in his eyes was grim.

“Next time we are dying your hair!” Luke forced out through clenched teeth. His eyes were shut tightly with pain.

“There is no use dying my hair black, you know!” Han grinned awkwardly. He searched through their medicine cabinet. Lucky for them, they still had some painkillers. He filled a hypospray with it, then injected the drug into Luke’s leg through his trousers. These drugs took a leg-to-brain time to have an effect, so in a few seconds Luke’s pale face relaxed.

“Still gonna shoot you.” Luke mumbled half asleep.

“Yeah, yeah.” Han ruffled the kid’s dark hair.

The ship shook a little, then stilled as a clear sign that Artoo entered them into hyperspace. The smuggler hoped that the help was not far, because their medical equipment was not enough to treat serious injuries.   

The drugs and the blood-loss took its toll on the kid and he slipped into what Han really hoped was a light sleep. Han watched as Chewie tried to treat the injury. He considered the entry wound, its angle and he bit down on his lower lip. If the blaster-bolt didn’t cauterize every vein it damaged inside the kid’s body, then they had to deal with serious internal bleeding too. Chewbacca placed a huge bacta-patch onto the wound.

“That’s all I can do.” he rumbled softly.

“Not much, right?” Han sighed and lowered himself down onto the lone chair that was near.

“I’ll check on the ship.” Chewie offered and left him alone. 

Their medical scanner kept monitoring the kid’s parameters, but Han kept an eye on him too. After a while blood started to escape from the bacta-patch. With a curse Han jumped to his feet and grabbed a sterile-cloth from the med-cabinet. He pushed it against the wound with force. Luke’s face twisted with pain, but the kid didn’t wake. Han cursed again and again. Those patches contained coagulant components. That amount of blood and the way how the kid’s blood pressure continued to drop meant very bad news.

“Chewie! When will we get there?” he shouted as loudly as he could, his eyes never left the screen of the scanner.

“10 more minutes!” came the reply.

“Make it five!” Han shouted despite knowing that there was nothing the wookiee could do to make the journey shorter. 

He counted the minutes as he kept pressing down on the wound. The white cloth in his hands turned angry red. A shudder ran through the ship when he reached eight minutes. They left hyperspace. The vibration he felt through the floor indicated that the engines were working on full power.

Artoo rolled past them, connected its little arm into one of the jacks. A hover-table parted from the wall and the little droid guided it next to the med-bunk. Han reached under Luke’s legs and behind his back and with one quick move he placed him onto the hover-table. Another shudder ran through the ship. They landed.

Han guided the hover-table through the Falcon. Chewbacca managed to lower the ramp by the time they reached it. The wookiee took control of the transporting part, so Han could continue keeping pressure on the wound. A group of people were running towards them, Leia taking the lead.

“What happened?” she gasped when they met half-way.

“Bounty hunter. Blaster shot. I think his spleen is bleeding.” Han explained quickly. Leia’s people took control of the situation, one of them, a woman, pushed his hand away and replaced them with hers over the wounds, while the others pushed the hover-table away. Han spotted Wedge and Wes running towards them with worried expressions. Leia kept asking questions, her face as white as the kid’s. However, Han couldn't answer. There was only one thing running through his head on loop.

He needed to leave.                   


	6. The Bodyguard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin Skywalker hires bodyguards to protect his twins. Modern word setting!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! It has been a hard moth filled with exams (medical student's life is hard. T.T), but I'm back on another writing rampage! Next to the dozen of Han&Luke stories, I plan to start a Luke&Leia sibling series too and I have another bigger story - Finsternis_ coming up! This chapter an experiment for me. I never wrote something like that before, so I'm really curious of what you think! Enjoy!

Anakin Skywalker looked as threatening in real life as he had done in the news. The icy blue eyes regarded the pair critically. Han really envied Chewie’s calm demeanor. He could barely suppress the urge to fidget under the hard gaze.

_Needthisjobneedthisjobneedthisjob!_

“You may know that I have two children.” Skywalker spoke finally.

Yeah, he did know. Everybody knew! Luke and Leia. Twins. Teenagers.

Chewie nodded reassuringly at them man, so Skywalker continued. “Unfortunately, our jobs come with a certain amount of enemies.”

A military genius and a politician with royal blood. Han could agree with the man on that.

“After the attack last week, I’m afraid that sooner or later one of my children may end up as another target. I can’t let that happen.”

Last week someone had shot at Mrs. Skywalker while she was having a dinner with one of her childhood friends in an elite restaurant. The assassin-wannabe missed and no one got hurt, but the next day a job advertisement had gone out. That was how the two of them ended up standing in front of Skywalker in that stupidly huge office.

“You have a remarkable list of references.”

Strictly speaking, it was Chewie’s list of references, because Han hadn’t done anything like that before, but it was not something Skywalker had to know.

“However,” Skywalker’s eyes grew even more icy if it was possible. “I take the safety of my children very seriously.”

The menacing tone made it very clear indeed. Han gulped discreetly.

“Stay assured, sir, we’ll keep them safe.” Chewie replied with his heavy accent. There was an undertone in that too. Nice! His best friend was threatening him too.

A sift knock broke through their conversation and a young woman (girl actually) entered the office gracefully.

“Father? Threepio told me that you asked for me.” She raised an elegant eyebrow at them, but otherwise her full attention was on her father. Leia Skywalker, Han’s mind supplied.

Skywalker’s face softened at the sight of her. “Leia. Let me introduce Chewbacca and Han Solo to you. They will be your and Luke’s bodyguards.”

A frown flashed through the older man’s face. “I asked for your brother too.”

“He is still boycotting this.” She smiled brightly.

Skywalker sighed and rubbed his face. “I swear Artoo is a very bad influence.”

“Maybe it’s just him.” Leia mused. 

“Well,” Skywalker motioned at the pair. “You can pick one.”

Pick one? Han swallowed down his sarcastic retort. He needed money. He needed this job.

Leia turned her attention to them. First, her eyes met his. A sound that sounded lot like ‘che’ escaped through her lips, then she turned to Chewbacca.

“My name is Leia Skywalker. Nice to meet you.”

“Chewbacca.” She was so tiny that she had to lean her head way back to be able to meet Chewbacca’s eyes. Her tiny hand disappeared between the giant’s huge fingers.

“Very well.” Skywalker spoke and pushed a button on the phone that sat on the desk. “Leia, please show Chewbacca around. Tonight’s soiree will start at seven. I expect you and your brother to be there.”

“Yes, Father!” Leia smiled brightly, then left with Chewbacca on her heels.

Han ignored their departure as he fumed behind his best poker face.  Better this way, he ranted to himself. He would strangle her himself after the first day!

The door didn’t even close, but it all but burst open as a tall, skinny guy rushed through it.

“Master Skywalker! Did you call for me?”

“Yes, Threepio. This is Han Solo, Luke’s new bodyguard. Can you please take him to Luke’s quarters and please make sure that my son gets ready for the evening.”

“Of course, sir! Mr. Solo, please follow me.” with that the servant departed briskly.

After he said goodbye curtly to his new boss, Han followed after the hyperactive servant. Three months. That was all he needed to survive here and he would be able to pay back his debt to Jabba. After that he could go back what he usually did and was good at. Something a bit more illegal and risky. Maybe the kid was more tolerable than his sister, who by the look of it was way too much like her father.

He turned his attention away from his situation and to the building which would be his home for the next three months. It was stupidly big, but elegantly decorated. Though, he couldn’t imagine growing up here. Maybe that was why that girl was so uptight. He actually felt sorry for the twins.

“Here we are, sir!” Threesomething … he glanced at the guy’s light blond hair… Goldenrod! So, Goldenrod announced. The servant knocked politely on the two-winged wooden door in front of them, then waited. After a soft ‘Come in’ Han entered the room which turned out to be the entrance of a series of rooms. An actual wing. Cool.

“Master Luke! Let me introduce …”

“Stop being so formal, Threepio!”

Han spotted the kid in front of a huge table leaning over something. It looked like lots of wires. The kid stood as he spotted Han and stepped around the table. Well, just like his sister, he didn’t inherit his father’s tall frame. It probably didn’t hinder his dating abilities between his Prince Charming face and hellish amount of money his parents owned. Something caught Han’s attention though. Luke was wearing a pair of black gloves. Wasn’t it summer or something? Han decided that he would never understand rich people. Then he noticed that the kid was frowning at him.

“Who are you?”

The servant sputtered next to him. “Master Luke! You can’t speak like that with ---“

“My name is Han Solo. Your bodyguard for the time being.”

“Stubborn old man!” the kid hissed angrily. Han nearly laughed out loudly as Goldenrod seemingly had a heart-attack after the kid’s outburst.

“Master Luke please prepare yourself for the soiree tonight.” the servant managed weakly.

“There is a party tonight? Why didn’t you tell me, Artoo?”

Han followed the kid’s gaze and noted with surprise that there was someone else in the room. A dwarf actually. The tiny man had a strange ageless, but kind face, which sported an exasperated expression this time.

“I told you. Three times the last hour. Your brain has a tendency of filtering out information you don’t like.” The tiny man had a strange accent that made it really hard to understand what he was saying, but being the friend of Chewbacca taught him few things.

“Master Luke, your father really wants you to attend and I’m responsible for---“

However, the tiny man cut Goldenrod off by grabbing his arms and pushed the man towards the door. “Come on, Luke is a big child now, he can get ready for a party on his own.”

“It’s Master Luke for you!” Goldenrod huffed. “You should show respect to….”

Han dutifully closed the door behind the pair and effectively cut off the argument that started to break out. He turned back to his new charge who leaned back against the table and glared past Han’s right ear.    

“I don’t need a bodyguard.” the kid stated stubbornly.

“Your father thinks you do, so you better deal with it.” Han shrugged.

The kid flashed his light blue eyes at him.  “Deal with it? Of course!”

Luke pushed himself away from the table and waved his hand at the couch. “You can watch TV here, this wing has a gym too. The room on the right is mine, please leave that one alone, but other than that,” Luke shrugged, “Make yourself at home, I guess.”

The kid walked past him and entered the room he called his own. However, he reappeared five minutes later carrying two dirty boots. He threw himself down onto the couch and started pulling them on.

“Erm…” Han scratched the back of his head. “What are you doing?”

“I’m getting ready for the night.” Luke replied matter of factly.

“I’m pretty sure that this is a black-tie event.” Han crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow.

Luke sighed and stood. He grabbed a jacket off one of the chairs that were placed around the table and walked to the window.

“I’m not going to the party.” he explained and opened the huge window opposite of the door. “If someone asks tell them that I turned in early, because of a migraine. I have them frequently.”

“Hey!” Han called and darted towards the kid, but before he could reach him, Luke climbed outside and disappeared out of sight. Han cursed loudly as he watched the kid climb down on the side of the building gracefully. A royal monkey! Han huffed. He considered his situation. He knew well that letting the kid out of his sight would mean losing his job, which he couldn’t let happen. He was on the third floor of the mansion and he didn’t know the exact lay out of the building, nor the places where the kid would escape to. That meant he had to follow in Luke’s footsteps. He cursed the kid as he made his way down the side of the building, using eaves, drain channels and balconies as handrails. Luckily, he had grown up in the ghetto which meant he survived the trip. He looked around with a huff. Huge, luxurious cars were rolling through the driveway. The visitors were arriving. With a growl Han hurried towards the outbuilding in which he had seen the kid disappear. He pushed the door open forcefully, then blinked with surprise as he noted that he stepped into a mechanic workshop. A very well equipped one. The kid stood in front of an old, classic car, hands hovering over the hood. His huge blue eyes regarded him with disapproval.

“Why did you come after me?” Luke huffed and crossed his arms.

“Because. It’s. My. Job!” Han hissed every word and pointed his finger at the teenager in front of him. “And I would appreciate if you stop endangering my job.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard!” Luke started to raise his voice too.

“Well, I don’t care! Discuss this with your father and leave me out of it!”

“I don’t care what my father thinks!” Luke shouted and slammed his right palm down onto the hood of the classic car next to him.

A strange ticking sound broke through the growing frustration in Han’s mind. A memory came to life in front of his inner eyes. Another car, the confusion in his father’s warm eyes, that strange sound, then hell. His brain didn’t even register the movement of his own body as he grabbed for the kid.

Just like the strange sound, the hellish roar of the explosion was the same.

Han’s brain needed a few seconds to understand what happened exactly. Somehow, he managed to pull the kid out of the building before the bomb went off and he ended up on the top of him. They were lucky that the explosion was small, otherwise it wouldn’t have mattered. Though the workshop was ruined, he noted as he glanced back into the building that remained standing. He pushed himself off the kid and rubbed his own face.

“Are you okay?” he asked. Damn, his head hurt.

The kid didn’t reply, so Han glanced back at him. Luke managed to sit up too, but his wide blue eyes were staring at the ruined inside of the workshop and his arms formed an insecure self-hug around his torso.

“Kid? Are you okay?” Han tried again and reached for the teenager.

“Luke!”

The voice was familiar and Han halted his own movements. He looked up and he came face to face with a horde of panicky and worried humans with Anakin Skywalker taking the lead. The military genius was kneeling next to the kid in a second checking his son over for injuries. Everybody was talking around him non-stop which didn’t help the buzzing in Han’s head. Then suddenly Skywalker turned on him shouting things like ‘One job’, ‘failed’ and ‘fired’. Han couldn’t even care in that state he was.

“Father! Enough!” Luke shouted suddenly.

His angry voice startled Anakin enough that he shut up temporarily.

“I’m fine, because Han did his job well.” Luke continued while glaring at his father. “He is my bodyguard, so he is my responsibility!”

Responsibility? Han blinked.

“You do know that I’m not a dog, right?” he mumbled.

Luke shot him a glare, but he remained ignored otherwise.

“You can’t fire him!” Luke stated.

“Anakin, keep your temper in check!” a female voice broke through the chaos.

Han looked up and saw a tiny woman walking through the crowd that opened up in front of her obediently. He recognized her from the television too, though he had to admit that she was even more prettier in real life. And kinda scary too.

“Padme! What are you doing here? Told you to stay inside!” Skywalker hissed.

A white blur rushed past the tiny woman and collided with the kid. A closer look confirmed that it was Leia who wrapped herself around her brother. Skywalker groaned at the sight of his other child and visibly gave up.

“Luke! Your bodyguard is bleeding!” Padme warned her son.

“One of the…” Skywalker started, but his son cut him off quickly.

“I want Luminara to check him out!”

Skywalker sighed and rubbed his face. “Luke… I don’t think it’s ne---“

“I want Luminara!” Luke shot back stubbornly.

“Fine!” Skywalker waved with his arms widely. “Just deal with it! Everybody else back to the house! Now!”

Luke flaked his sister off himself and reached his hand out to Han. “Come with me!”

Han followed the teenager back to the house in a daze. What did he get himself into? His eyes found Chewbacca’s in the crowd and he saw something in that dark pair of orbs. What did Chewie get him into?

***

In the end Luke got what he wanted. The party had been postponed and the visitors had gone home. Luminara Unduli had taken care of Han’s injuries thanks to Luke’s stubbornness. Although Han only had a tiny wound on his forehead and a mild concussion. After that Luke and him had returned back to Luke’s wing in the house, where Han had been given his own room. The kid had thanked him his actions, then disappeared for the night.

Han lay on his new bed staring at the ceiling, while sleep avoided him. It had been an eventful day. Way too eventful considering it had been his first. His fingers curled into fists as the memory of his father surfaced again. He didn’t want to remember, so he channeled the negative feelings into anger. As it had been later confirmed, that workshop belonged to Luke and to him only. Whoever had planted that explosive had known that his target was a teenager. Han was no saint, but he found the idea of hurting kids unacceptable. Luke wasn’t even eighteen for fuck’s sake.

He rolled around and buried his face into his pillow with a growl. Chewbacca had gotten him this job, when he had told his friend that he needed money and he needed it fast. His best friend had never approved of his way of life. And Chewie knew way too well how he felt about kids in general.

“Clever bastard!” he mumbled.

He stayed like that till he heard a soft sound. He pushed himself to his feet reluctantly. He had a teenager to protect after all.

He stepped out of his room and saw that the lights were on in the living-room of Luke’s wing. He hesitated for a few moments. He knew that it probably meant that the kid couldn’t sleep and there was no imminent danger and it shouldn’t have concerned him. He was a bodyguard and not a soulguard after all. But this was just a kid who had nearly been killed that day. He sighed with defeat and started walking again.

Damn Chewie.

Indeed, Luke was up and by the table in the same position in which he had been when they had met that day.

“Hey!” he called out softly. He still managed to startle the kid. Luke turned sharply towards him, his pupils so large that his eyes seemed black. However, after a few quick breaths the kid collected himself and forced a sheepish smile onto his face.

“Did I wake you up?” he asked. He turned back to the machinery he was pocking with a screwdriver. His hands were shaking slightly, Han noted.

“Nah… I’m responsible for my own insomnia.” he shrugged. He pulled out a chair across from Luke and threw himself down onto it. “What are you doing?”

“Hm?” Luke blinked at him, so Han motioned at the wires in the kid’s hand. “Oh. That is… was Artoo’s laptop. I try to figure out what went wrong with it. I” he shrugged, “I like fixing things.”

Han thought back at the ruined workshop. “Yeah, I guessed that. What else do you like?”

“Racing!” Luke grinned widely. His eyes were back to their bright blue colors, Han noted with relief.

“Race with what?”

“Everything that can go fast enough. Cars, bikes, horses.”

“Horse?” Han winced.

“Of course!” Luke laughed at his grimace. “Come to think of it, will have a trip this weekend.”

“Let me guess, it includes horses.”

“Yes!”

Han groaned loudly. Animals and him…. they didn’t mix well.

Silence fell upon them. Luke continued his work with the laptop, but after a few minutes he lowered the screwdriver and stared out the window. His closed off features gave away what he was thinking about.

“I’m sorry that something like that happened.” Han said after a while.

“The thing is…” Luke started slowly. He didn’t look at Han, but kept his gaze on the window. “It’s not the first time. Few years ago, my father and I traveled by car. I don’t even remember where we were headed, just that we ended up in a car crash. It was intentional… I lost my right hand.”

Luke smiled mirthlessly and pulled off the black glove from that said limb. There was an artificial hand under it. A very modern and well-made one, Han noted.

“The guy who was responsible for the crash wanted to kill my father. He was actually horrified when he found out that there was a kid in the car too.” Luke pulled the glove back on and his gaze finally found Han’s. “This is different though, right?”

Han swallowed uncomfortably. He was pretty sure that participating in this conversation was not part of his job. He had the potential to screw things up even more when he opened his mouth. Though, not much choice was left.

“Yeah. It’s different.” he said slowly.

Luke hummed softly and looked away again.

“Do you know what this is about?” Han asked the question that had been bothering him since the explosion. That and he couldn’t stand the uncomfortable silence that fell upon them.

“Mother is forcing a contract through the Senate. It’s about climate change.  Not surprisingly there are people who are against it.” Luke shrugged.

“Yeah, I can imagine…” Han muttered.

After that Han asked about the people who opposed Mrs. Skywalker’s idea, but the list was too long for Han to pick out the most likely suspect. Luke started yawning, so Han decided it was time for bed. He found out soon that Luke didn’t like to be bossed around, so he had to take the ruined laptop hostage to convince the kid. Though, Luke did try to start a glaring match, but it was late and after the events of the day, the teenager was crashing in front of the grown up’s eyes.

“You’ll have to ride a horse for this!” Luke threatened as he disappeared in his room.

***

Han found out a lot of things about the Skywalker family during the next week. Anakin and Padme were your average rich parents by being always busy and loving their children from the distance. In exchange Luke and Leia had a very tight schedule. The twins had several classes with private teachers, they both had fencing and shooting classes in the afternoons. But while Leia loved politics and studied history and law passionately, Luke spent those hours staring out of the window with a blank face. Let’s just say that their teacher was not happy with him. Han once asked the kid why didn’t he have classes about physics or engineering, but all he got from Luke was a mirthless laugh and an order to leave the matter alone. Which he did, because he had an idea what was behind all of this and he didn’t want to go there. However, the kid was an excellent marksman and sometimes bested even his own teacher in fencing.

It was an interesting experience for Han, watching this life from the sidelines. In the end, he had come to the conclusion that he would never want to be the part of it.   


***

It turned out that the weekend’s trip was supposed to be a family thing. However, Padme and Leia ended up participating a meeting with someone important (not that Han could remember the names) and Anakin didn’t manage to get back from his trip to Corellia. Han thought that Luke would do what your average teenager does in these situations, sulk in his room. But no. During that week, he had found out that Luke does everything in his own way. This time the teenager walked up to him and gave him a long considering look.

“You’ll take my horse. I’ll go with Ameera.”

Han tried talk his way out of the trip, but the other thing he had learnt was that once Luke makes up his mind, well… Han was screwed in short. So, on a sunny Saturday morning Han found himself standing in front of a huge black horse. Next to him Luke easily swung himself onto the back of an elegant chestnut colored animal.

“Come on!” the kid laughed. “She is harmless.”

“She?” Han gaped at the huge thing in front of him. “She is huge!”

“You are not small either. It’s fair that way. Now come on!” Luke urged.

Grumbling under his nose, Han carefully managed to maneuver himself onto the horse and grabbed the reins tightly. He stiffened when the horse sighed loudly.

“What is her name again?” Han asked, when the kid looked like he could talk without laughing.

Luke gave him a cheeky grin. “Apocalypse!”

“What???”

This time the kid did burst out laughing, while Han nearly catapulted off the animal.

“Joking! Just joking!” Luke gasped out. With a gentle move of his hips and legs, the kid nudged Ameera forward. The black giant followed slowly after them.

“Her name is Tempest!”

“What???”

***

The horse name was Stormlight as it turned out finally after few death-threats and grumbling from Han. At least the kid looked happy, the bodyguard thought sulkily. The landscape which through Luke was leading them was breathtakingly beautiful, Han had to admit. The water of the lakes they passed was so clear that they could see the bottom and the colorful fish that lived in them. Tall grass covered the ground that connected the lakes. Stormlight followed Luke and Ameera obediently and after a while Han managed to relax enough to actually enjoy the ride. When the heat of the sun started to get too hot, Luke stirred them towards the shades of the woods that belonged to the Skywalkers. They were following a rivulet that fed the biggest lake.

“You know,” Luke started after few minutes of silence. “I have an uncle and an aunt who has a farm far away from here.”

Han cocked his head to the side, but didn’t say a word waiting for the kid to continue in his own time.

“Sometimes I wish I could live with them.” Luke said with a fond smile.

“So, why don’t you?”

Luke blinked at him with surprise. “I can’t leave. Leia is here.”

Han nearly forgot that the siblings were actually twins. Even he could see that the pair was very close. For example this morning Leia spent the hour before her and her mother’s departure sticking to her brother like a child.

“You do realize that soon the two of you will be adults and probably go separate ways, right?” Han asked.

The kid looked away from him. “According to the plans we won’t.”

“According to your father’s plans?”

“Han, please leave this alone, okay?” Luke sighed.

Han shrugged. “Yeah, I can leave it alone, just like everyone else. But, that wouldn’t change the fact that you hate your situation, would it?”

“Han, I---“

 During Luke’s retort, something burst out of the bushes around them and went straight for Ameera. The chestnut colored horse reared back and stood on its two legs. The sudden movement pushed Luke out of his balance and he fell off the horse, straight into the rivulet. Stormlight neighed loudly, which for Han sounded dangerously like a battle-cry and charged at their attacker that aimed for the fallen rider in the water. However, the huge black horse must have been too terrifying in the animal’s point of view, because with a whine it changed its direction and ran back into the woods. Stormlight stopped with a loud snort and glared defiantly at the bushes in which the attacker disappeared.

Han somehow managed to remain on the back of the horse by holding onto the saddle tightly. He actually had to force his fingers to release the poor thing in order to get off Stormlight. He slid off the animal and with a shaking hand carefully patted the horse’s neck. He stepped into the rivulet in which Luke was trying to get onto his feet, but didn’t quiet manage on the slippery rocks. Luke grabbed Han’s outstretched hand and the bodyguard hauled him out of the water.

“Are you okay, kid?”

There was no sign of serious injuries, but with the kid shaking in his hand, he couldn’t be sure.

“That was a wolf.” Luke replied and he pulled himself away from Han. “There shouldn’t be any wolves in these woods.”

“I asked you a question, kid!” Han pressed.

“I’m fine!” Luke snapped. He walked past Han and went straight for Stormlight. The kid wrapped his arms around the strong neck of the animal and buried his face into its mane. Ameera walked back towards them slowly, her head held low. She was the epitome of shame. She gently poked Luke’s back with her nose till the kid reached a hand back and patted her forehead too. Han watched the scene uncomfortably. He felt like an intruder.

“Why was here a wolf?” Luke asked again. He pushed himself away from Stormlight and grabbed the reigns of the horses. His bright blue eyes regarded the older man questioningly.

“It could have been another attack.” Han said carefully. Luke bit down on his lower lip and he turned his eyes away from him.

“Can I ask something from you?”

“What?”

“Can you please not tell Father this?” When Luke leveled his eyes at him again, they were huge and lost puppy like. They made Han feel uncomfortable again.

“We’ll talk about this later. Now, I’d like to get out of here.”

They rode back to the stables without another incident. Han knew why Luke didn’t want to report the incident to Skywalker. Considering that there was still no lead on the bombing, another attack would have meant the end of the tiny amount of freedom Luke had. Han didn’t want to know what would become of the restless teenager if that happened. So, he agreed to keep the incident secret. However, they both agreed that they couldn’t let the wolf roam free here, so they turned the attack into a sighting. The only thing that didn’t add up was Luke’s wet clothes.

“I’ll come up with something,” Luke shrugged and gave Han a cheeky grin. “I’m famous for doing stupid things.”

***

A month passed uneventfully after that. Somehow everyone bought Luke’s story without a question. Skywalker had sent a team out to capture the wolf which they did after two days and that had been all. Han continued to follow Luke through the kid’s boring schedule. One thing caught the bodyguard’s attention though. It was the growing tension between father and son. Han didn’t witness any real argument, but the air around the pair turned frosty. He had a good idea what it was all about. Maybe his words had a something to do with the situation. Han shrugged when the thought crossed his mind. Sooner or later Anakin would realize that he couldn’t control his free-spirited son forever so tightly, Han probably just sped things up a little.

One evening Han sat in the living-room of Luke’s wing watching TV, while Luke was on the phone in his own room. The kid had been moody all day, but didn’t give Han an explanation. Suddenly Luke stormed out of his room dressed in a simple black suit. 

“We have a party tonight! Get ready!” the teenager hissed as he tied his tie with jerky movements.

“Let me guess! You are forced to attend?” Han asked with a grin.                      

However, this time Luke wasn’t open for the banter they developed since they warmed up to each other. The kid flashed his angry blue orbs at him, a snarl slowly forming on the young face.

“Did you read Sherlock to come up with the idea?” he spat.

“Kid!” Han warned and met with the icy glare straight on. Luke lowered his head with a sigh realizing his unfairness.

“Sorry. Get ready. I’ll be in Father’s office.”

The kid left without another word. Han turned the TV off with a frown. He was required to wear a suit for his job, so he didn’t exactly need to do anything else to get ready. He considered his situation and realized with a groan that he was facing a long and awkward waiting in front of the oldest Skywalker’s office.

***

Skywalker’s office was soundproofed, so Han had no idea what the pair talked about inside during that hour he had spent standing next to the door. Downstairs the party had started with Padme and Leia welcoming the guests. Han was about to fall asleep standing, when the office’s door burst open and Luke stormed past him. Han was still gaping after the teen even when Anakin shouted after his son to get back inside immediately. Luke didn’t and Han thought that the younger Skywalker was still the less dangerous one, so he hurried after him.

He caught up with Luke in the middle of the party. At the table that contained most of the alcohol to be exact. By the time Han managed to crawl his way through the crowd, Luke managed to swallow down two glasses of champagne and he was in the middle of the third when Han reached him. He yanked the glass out of the teenager’s hand. He grabbed Luke’s arm and he guided him out of the house through the terrace door into the back garden.

“What are you doing? Let me go!” Luke demanded angrily and tried to push Han away.

“Are you out of your mind?” the older man hissed, but released the kid’s arm. “What were you thinking?”

“That’s the plan! I don’t want to think right now!” Luke shot back.

“That’s not cheap stuff! Do you want to end up on the floor like a drunkard in front of everyone?”

“I don’t get drunk that easily!” Luke straightened his back. His overly bright eyes belied his statement though.

“What is this about?” Han crossed his arms in front of his chest. Luke mimicked his movements, though his looked more like a self-hug.  

“He has no right!”

“For what?”

Luke tightened his hold around himself, his eyes large as he met Han’s, his voice small and insecure. “He is sending me away.”

That startled Han out of his growing frustration with his charge. “Sending you where?”

“Military school. The same one he attended to.” Luke bit down on his lower lip. “It’s not that surprising. I mean it’s a family thing, I guess, but you know… shouldn’t I have a say in it?”

Han sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He shouldn’t have gotten involved, he knew, but it seemed like that the kid didn’t have anyone else to talk to. He was about to open his mouth to reassure the teenager, but a soft rustling sound got his attention. He moved closer to the kid as he looked around searching for the source of the sound. It was hard to see in the darkness. The hair rose on the back of his neck.

“Let’s just get inside, okay?” he murmured to the kid.

He heard the rustling sound again and he spun towards it, his hand flying for his service weapon, just to be sure. However, before he could draw it something slammed against his chest. Jolts of electricity shot through him and he fell to the ground. He didn’t lose his consciousness fully, but he couldn’t form coherent thoughts and his body refused to move. Luke let out a strangled sound and he collapsed too.  A pair of boots entered his field of vision. He saw gloved hands reaching for the kid. With an inhuman effort, he reached out and grabbed the closer ankle. He got a kick for his action. This time he did disconnect from his consciousness.

***

He woke to Artoo’s large eyes blinking down at him. He shot up so fast that the smaller man barely had time to avoid collusion.

“Hey man! You already have a concussion. I don’t think you need another one!” Artoo huffed.

“The kid!” Han breathed worriedly.

Artoo’s face darkened and those large dark eyes turned sad. “They took him.” he confirmed what Han had already known.

“I have to talk to his parents!” Han said and started to crawl out of the bed he had been laying in.

Artoo cocked his head to the side. “Why?”

“I just allowed their son to be taken away, that’s why!” he snapped back.

“Now stop right here!” Artoo glared. “You didn’t manage to prevent them to take him, but not allowed. There is a difference in there!”

“Not to me!” Han hissed as he pulled on his shoes. “Where are they?”

Artoo sighed and rose to his feet wearily. He was not that young, Han noted absently. “Padme is in her office waiting for a ransom call. But you should avoid Anakin. He is not in his right mind now.”

That Han could understand. To have your son be kidnapped after you two have a huge fight… Han actually felt sorry for the man. On the second thought... no he didn't.

He allowed Artoo to lead him through the house. He spotted Leia and Chewbacca in the crowd that gathered in the ballroom of the huge mansion. He might have expected the young girl to be shaken and curled up somewhere knowing her love for her brother, but it was not the case. She was having a heated conversation with an officer and one of the guests. Bail Organa, his mind supplied. Han’s eyes met with Chewbacca’s. His best friend moved towards him, but he stopped him with a shake of his head. He motioned gently at Leia and mouthed ‘Stay with her!’. Chewie stepped back reluctantly and crossed his massive arms again. The worried gaze followed them till they disappeared in one of the corridors.

Padme was alone in her office when he was allowed to enter, while Artoo stayed outside. The woman was pale under her heavy makeup, her dark eyes sad and worried. She forced a smile onto her face, when she looked into his eyes. That smile looked grotesque in Han’s opinion.

“Mr. Solo. How are you?” she asked gently.

He ignored her question. “I’m sorry,” he said instead.

“You are not the one to be blamed.” She rose to her feet and walked around the desk to stand in front of him. She placed a gentle hand onto his arm. “I saw the recordings. You did what you could.”

“It was not enough.” He replied quietly.

Silence fell upon them and Han couldn’t tolerate it longer than a second or two.

“Can I help somehow?”

Padme let go of his arm and stepped back. Her eyes were gentle when she raised them back to meet Han’s.

“You should rest. You were injured. Anakin and the best of his men will find him.”

Her words were aimed to shoot his worries, but it did the opposite. Han started pacing up and down in the office mind racing. A sudden thought occurred to him.

“You said there are recordings? Can I see them?”

Padme seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then she motioned for him to come around her desk and she sat down in front of her computer. Another good thing about being stupidly rich is you can access every security camera from anywhere your house as it turned out. She brought up the recording and she pressed play. Han watched himself pulling the kid out of the house and their heated argument.

“I shouldn’t have brought him out.” he mumbled softly.

“He seems upset.” Padme noted equally quietly. “He usually hides away when he is upset.

Han didn’t know what to say to that, so he concentrated on the recording. He watched the attack. He cursed the taser that sent him to the ground. He cursed again when watched the kid go down, because of the same reason. Two figures appeared, both of them wearing helmets. One of them had turned when he had grabbed his ankle and the recording showed the tattoo on his arm.

“Kenobi is looking into that now.” Padme motioned at the image after she hit pause.

“That is Greedo!” Han spat.

Padme looked startled. Her gaze flew back and fort between the screen and the snarl that occupied Han’s face.

“You know him?”

“I grew up on the streets. Met all the bad guys, I suppose. I know that tattoo. This is Greedo.” he looked straight into Padme’s eyes. “He is Jabba’s man.”

“Jabba?” Padme breathed. Emotions Han didn’t want to recognize flashed across her face.

“You said that you know all the bad guys.” she started after a while. Han nodded carefully. “Do you have an idea what Jabba will do now?”

Yes.

“Not really.” he replied slowly. “What I can tell that he won’t call. He already voiced his opinion back then, right?”

She gave him a jerky nod. Her dark eyes were big and pleading as she stared at him. Han took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he came to a conclusion.

“I know where Greedo usually hides. But,” his sharp word stopped Padme, who reached for her phone. “We need to be careful, so we won’t endanger Luke even more. Tell your husband that Jabba is behind all this and I’ll go and find Greedo. I can get Luke’s whereabouts out of him, but it’s important that I go alone. Can it be done?”

“I…” Padme hesitated. Her eyes flew around wildly, till they settled down on the monitor. The frozen recording showed her son cradled in one of the kidnappers’ arms, while Han clung to the other’s ankle.

“Please, bring him back!” her voice was small as she begged, her eyes way too bright.

Han gave her a quick nod and hurried out of the room without looking back. He avoided the guests on his way out of the building. He was already sitting in the Falcon, ready to start the ancient car, when a huge shadow fell over him.

“I told you to stay with the girl!” He huffed at the pair of dark eyes, that looked down on him with worry.

“Where are you going?” Chewie asked.

“I’ve lost a kid and I’m getting him back.” He looked up at his friend with newly formed resolve. “Trust me! And… keep Leia safe!”

Chewbacca grunted his reply and stepped back. Han felt his intense gaze following him as he left the Skywalker mansion.

***

He parked the Falcon down a street away from his destination. This part of the city was dark and dangerous. He breathed in the foul air as he strode through the street and he found it fitted his dark mood. He pushed the door of the cantina open with more force than necessary. His eyes found Greedo almost immediately. The idiot sat at his usual spot, drinking smugly. No one payed attention to him as he stormed up to the guy and grabbed him by the neck. He punched him when Greedo tried to protest, then dragged the guy out of the building, into the alley that lay next to it. He shoved Greedo against the wall.

“Where is the kid?” he snarled furiously.

“Well, well, Solo! Who would have thought---“ Han didn’t have time for the idiot’s taunting, so he punched him again and repeated the question. It took him three rounds of this and a broken, bloody nose from the other for Greedo to give up.

“Jabba ordered the freezer for him.” Greedo wheezed out.

Han’s next punch knocked the guy out fully. The bodyguard let go of him and he slumped to the ground. Icy cold settled in the pit of Han’s stomach as he raced back to the Falcon. He knew what the freezer actually meant and he didn’t have much time. He overstepped every speed limits that ever existed on Earth as he drove out of the town. The asphalt disappeared from under the Falcon, but he barely slowed down on the dirty road until he reached his destination. He got out of the car and looked around cautiously. His instincts told him that no one was there with him. He opened the trunk of the Falcon and rummaged through his personal emergency equipment. He pulled out his flashlight and a hand shovel. He moved the strong beam back and forth searching for fresh marks on the ground. This place was called the rancor’s pit by Jabba’s men. Very few people knew where it was exactly, but everybody knew what happened to those who were brought here. He couldn't imagine the same fate to be sentenced to Luke.

The time he spent with Chewbacca on his friend’s favorite camping trips payed off, because he found the fresh tire marks in no time. He followed them to the place where the car stopped. Different marks, (someone digging his heels into the ground) led him from there. After few steps, he found his goal. There was patch of freshly moved dirt in front of him. He threw the flashlight to the ground and he started digging as fast as he could with the shovel. He blessed the laziness of Jabba’s men, when his shovel collided with something solid. He didn’t stop though till he cleared the earth off the hard surface. It was a freezer. One of Jabba’s cover businesses was a factory for household equipment’s and during the years the criminal developed a mania which was putting his victims into one of these. Once Han had nearly ended up here too, he could only thank Chewbacca that he hadn’t.

There was a padlock keeping the freezer shut. Han pulled his service weapon free and shot it off without hesitation. The loud bang was deafening in the silence of the night, but Han ignored it. He ripped the freezer open and froze for a second. Luke looked serene despite the fact that he had duct tape around his wrists and his ankles. Han wasn’t sure if the kid was breathing, so he leaned in and placed his fingers onto Luke’s carotid. He breathed a sigh of relief, when he felt the rapid rhythm under his skin.

He had arrived just in time.

He carefully reached behind Luke’s knees and back and carefully leveled him out of the deathtrap. He pulled a knife out of the straps around his right ankle and cut the duct tape off the kid. Just in time for Luke to start to stir. The kid woke slowly, disorientated and panicked. He lashed out as soon as his freshly oxygenated brain registered he could. He kicked and screamed till Han pulled him against his own chest and wrapped a restraining arm around him.

“It’s me kid! It’s me! Han. You are okay now! I got you!” he hushed repeating the words again till Luke’s hoarse voice quietened down.

“Han?” the kid sounded small and fragile, so he pulled him close and ran a hand through the dirty blond locks. Han had been told during his youth that kids should be protected at all cost. After tonight’s events, he knew he’d been doomed with the need of protecting the hell out of this kid even without payment.

When Luke slumped against him finally, but still shaking slightly, Han pulled his phone out and dialed his best friend.

“I’ve found the kid in the rancor pit. He is okay now.” he said quietly. He dropped the phone back onto the ground and tried to come up with a plan to get Luke back to the Falcon with the smallest amount of effort from the kid.

Chewbacca can take care of everything else…            


	7. Blood Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is the Force contagious?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short silly thingy from me to you :D

Luke blinked up at the durasteel slabs that formed a neat roof for him to lie under. He hummed quietly as a frown appeared on his face. How in the Nine Corellian Hells had he end up there? He closed his eyes as he tried to think. Darn it! His head hurt like that said nine hells. He sighed as he pulled the Force to himself. The pain lessened immediately. It would come back soon, he knew, unless he would get a chance to sink into a healing-trance, but it would do till he’d figured out what had happened.

The flashback came immediately.

_The door opened in front of him with a characteristic hiss and he stepped forward. His danger-sense started screaming the moment his eyes fell on that blinking red light in front of him. He waved back with his left hand warningly, then everything turned painfully white._

So, there had been an explosion. He looked up at the durasteel slabs again this time thankfully. After all, they were probably holding the whole building above him. He snorted as Leia’s face appeared in front of his inner eyes. She had told him several times that the Force must be in love with him, because she couldn’t find another explanation how he had survived certain events. Like the first Death Star. Or the second one. Or the rancor. Bespin. Growing up on Tatooine. Or Hoth. Adored by the Force, that was how people called him nowadays. Adored by the Force. He liked how it sounded.

He smiled and closed his eyes. He would have to find a way out of here, but he was content to lie back down for a few minutes and rest. There was no rush after all. He was safe.

Then something tugged at his awareness. It felt like knocking. A very urgent knocking. He frowned again. What?

The memory surfaced again _. Blinking light, danger-sense, his hand waving a warning… warning…_ Wait he wasn’t alone!

He shot up right eyes wide and he nearly knocked himself out by hitting his head against the durasteel. He couldn’t careless!

“Han!”

He maneuvered himself onto all fours and looked around fanatically. The Force can adore him all it wants, but if Han’s dead, then he would… do…something. How do you threaten the Force? It wasn’t actually a person or… was it sentient or what…

 _Skywalker! Focus!_ He hissed at himself. He had a concussion all right, his mind wasn’t that scrambled usually. Okay, most of the time. He took a deep breath and tried to orient himself. He needed to find Han and find out what state he was in. Wait and kriffing minute…. He was a kriffing force-sensitive with the ability of detecting people by their presence in the Force. He sat down again, crossed-legged and reached out for the Force. Han’s presence in was familiar and thankfully very much alive, but hurt. Though he couldn’t guess how bad it was.

Luke looked around again and assessed his situation. The ruins formed a little chamber around him, but he spotted a hole big enough for him to fit through on his right. He made his way towards it on all fours and peered through the hole. It continued in a two standard meters long makeshift corridor. It looked stable, so Luke crawled through it. The other end opened into a hell of a pit. Luke peered down. It seemed like that the explosion caused a ten standard-meters wide part of the floor to collapse. Luke hummed at the ruins below. Han was down there.

“Han?” he called out. His voice was hoarse and speaking hurt his dry throat.

“Kid?”

Luke allowed a lopsided grin to appear on his face when he heard his friend’s equally hoarse voice reply.

“Yeah, it’s me!” he called back. He looked around searching for a way down, but the explosion hadn’t created ruins climbing in mind. Luke pondered on that last thought for a second or two. Darn it, he really way concussed…

“Are you okay, kid? I’m kinda …stuck.” Han shouted again.

“I’m going down!” Luke called back, deciding to go by the Jedi way. “Stay put!”

“Kid… I’m STUCK! Where would I go?”

Luke pondered on that too and decided that okay, Han was right. Kriffing concussion! BAck to the task. The hole was one storey deep, nothing he couldn't deal with. He pulled himself into a crouching position and grabbed the edge of the hole. He jumped with a powerful kick of his legs, turned the jump into a somersault and arrived between the ruins in another crouch. Before he could be actually proud of himself, a quick wave of dizziness pushed him out of balance and he ended up on his back. Kriffing concussion!  

He rolled onto his stomach, then continued to crawl towards his friend’s presence. He found Han sitting between durasteel slabs, back leaned against one, arms crossed and pout on his dirty face.

“Darn it, kid! Your head is bleeding!” The pout turned into a frown.

Luke raised a hand to his temple, where the throbbing was the worst and found something sticky there with his fingers. He glanced at the hand and the dark blood spots on the tip of his fingers, but something else caught his attention. Darn it, the skin had been damaged on his prosthetic. Again. Kriffing explosion.

“Kid?”

Oh, there had been a question. What was it exactly? Well, with Han it was usually one thing in these situations.

“I’m fine!”

Han raised an eyebrow and continued glaring at him.

“Okay! I’m impersonating the Force. Now you happy?” Luke huffed and crossed his arms. He remembered back enviously to that short period of time between Tatooine and Endor, when he managed to keep up his mask of Jedi calm in front of Han. Then his friend grabbed an imaginary hammer and with a battle-cry destroyed his well-crafted walls.

“You have a concussion.” Han noted after a moment. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with an exasperated sigh. “Fantastic! I’m stuck and you have a concussion!”

“How are you stuck exactly?” Luke asked.

Han waved at his right leg. Oh, so that’s how. There was a long metal rod sticking out of Han’s thigh. It continued up towards the ceiling, ending in another durasteel slab.

“Ewwww” Luke commented. “Did it… go through?”

“Not completely” Han hissed as he moved his leg a little. “It’s in the bone, I think. But if that thing shifts up there, then it will go through.” he waved at the durasteel above them.

Luke hummed and pulled his lightsaber free. Han’s eyes grew wide as he spotted the weapon and waved with his hands widely.

“Stop right there!” he cried. “What do you think you are doing?”

“Cutting you free.” Luke replied innocently. He really didn’t see the problem.

“Absolutely not!” Han glared. “I need my leg, thank you very much!”

“I meant the rod!” Luke huffed and activated the lightsaber. “Now keep your hands to yourself or I may accidentally cut them off.”

“You are concussed!” Han protested his voice high as Luke moved his weapon. The sword cut through the rod. Luke pushed at Han with the Force and just as his friend’s leg slipped out of under the rest of the rod, the metal thing slammed into the ground.

“I think it shifted.” Luke mused.

“Stop doing that!” Han huffed. He had put his belt around his injured leg way before Luke had found him, but pulled the thing tighter. The part of the metal that remained in his leg must have shifted a little, because the wound started bleeding again.

“Doing…what?”

“Moving me around with the Force! It’s creepy!”

Luke grinned sheepishly, then turned his attention to the wound. “That needs medical attention. It’s a good thing that this is a med-center.”

Han let out a strange sound and grabbed Luke’s arm. He shook the kid gently, but still frantically. “Kid! This is not a med-center! This is an Imperial garrison!”

“But there is a med-bay! I can actually see it!” Luke huffed. Han sighed, but allowed Luke to pull him to his feet. He had seen the kid concussed more times than what was healthy for any human being and knew that Luke was more attuned to the Force in this state.

Luke pulled Han through the maze of the ruins till they reached a corridor that was a little less damaged. The height difference between them made the journey to the med-bay a little awkward.

“Why are you so short?” Han huffed. He was turning pale alarmingly.

“I’m not short. I reached normal height. You are too tall!” Luke glared half-heartedly. His concentration was totally off thanks to his concussion and he was glad that he managed to follow the tendrils of the Force that was leading them towards their destination.

“Fair enough…” Han mumbled. His concentration was slipping too.        

 One more turn, two more doors and they arrived at the med-bay. Han was leaning on him more and more, actually he was dragging him through the room, but he had hauled Darth Vader and his kriffing armor through the second Death Star, compared to that Han was light-weight. He pushed his friend onto the examination table and he looked around searching for the right equipment.

“There is no med-droid.” Han frowned.

“I know,” Luke said and touched Han’s temple with his left hand. He pushed with the Force. “You sleep now.”

“Wha…” Luke caught Han as the Force suggestion forced his friend into a healing-trance. He laid Han down and pulled the right equipment towards himself with the Force. He was overdoing it, but his deconcentration was getting worse and he needed to be done with it before he could totally fall apart. The healing-trance would take care of the wound, he just needed to get the rod out of it. He pulled it out carefully with telekinesis and placed it aside. He pulled the edges of the wound together and placed a bacta-pad onto it. Neatly closed, he hummed.  He gave a shot of antibiotics to Han, then allowed himself a minute to assess his situation. They were in an abandoned Imperial garrison and… wait was it abandoned? He glanced at the door which he closed absentmindedly when they had arrived. He was sure that it was abandoned, but he had been sure that it was also a med-center… so… he moved a heavy cabinet in front of the door with a wave of his hand. Just to be sure.

Next, Han. The healing-trance would take care of the wound, but the blood-loss was another matter. It would need way too much time. Days. That he could speed up a little. Back in the rebellion everyone needed to take a class about emergency treatment out in the field. Blood transfusion had been part of it. This med-bay had everything he needed. The only thing that made him hesitate was his concussion.

“I’ll just pay extra attention.” he said with a wince. “You are lucky that I’m O-.“

Wait, was he? He rubbed his face with a frustrated sigh. He activated the machine they used for transfusion and it took a sample from him. O-, thanks the Force. He pulled a chair close and allowed the machine to push a needle into a vein in his arm. One unit from him would be enough for Han to speed up his healing. Luckily these machines were made to be dummy-proof, so there was no chance for him to mess things up. The machine took his blood and prepared it for transfusion. Another needle into Han’s arm and everything was set.

Luke crossed his arms on the table which held the medical equipment’s and lowered his head onto them. His mind needed some reorientation too. He sank into a healing-trance.

***

Two things woke him. The constants repetition of his name and a head-slap on the back of his head.

“Wha…?” he mumbled and looked up with bleary eyes.

Han was standing in front of him with a glare. The ex-smugglers lips weren’t moving, but someone was still calling out for him.

“Can you tell Leia, to stay quiet for a minute… or two?” he asked and rubbed his eyes. He felt like hell.

“No, I won’t!” Han hissed and crossed his arms in front of himself.

Luke glanced up wearily at his friend. “You mad?”

“AM I MAD?” Han shouted. “You knocked me out with the Force! How do you think I feel???”

“Well, it was necessary…” Luke shrugged.

“It was NOT necessary and you should ask permission before you do something like that! And it’s just the start! You put together a transfusion while heavily concussed? Are you out of your mind???”

“Probably I was.” Luke sighed and rose to his feet. He sent reassurance to his twin sister, who finally stopped crying out for him. “Though, it did help.”

“It did,” Han admitted grudgingly. “But that’s not the point. You endangered yourself!”

“A little blood loss doesn’t endanger me, not even with a concussion.” Luke smiled. “Now, we should go, because Leia had sent a party after us and they’ll tear this place down if we don’t calm them down.”

“Well, we could go, if you move that kriffing thing away from the door!” Han pointed at the huge cabinet he managed to move before.

Luke grinned sheepishly, but did put the thing away the same way he had placed it there. They barely took two steps, when Han froze. He turned slowly towards Luke, who raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Tell me the Force is not contagious!” Han urged with wide eyes.

Luke frowned at his friend. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“I kinda feel off… Everything is bright and loud!” Han waved his arms around frantically. Luke grabbed his arms and forced them down.

“Han, calm down! It was just one unit of blood. Nothing serious. I’m sure that this will cease in no time. The Force is NOT contagious. Calm down!”

Han pulled his hands free and crossed his arms. “I swear, Kid, If…”

“It’s not contagious!” Luke huffed with an eye-roll. “And even if it was, it wouldn't be such a bad thing…”

“KID!”

“BUT IT’S NOT!!!”

Luke pushed past his friend and strode through the corridor towards the group of men he felt approaching. Han caught up with him after two steps (Kriffing long legs!), but didn’t press the matter again. He did glare though at ... basically everything and he flinched at every sound.    

“How bad is the search party?” Han asked after a while as they walked side by side.  He seemed a little bit less angry.

“Chewbacca and Wedge lead it.”

“Oh, Sith!”

“Exactly…”


	8. Spiced Up Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lando isn't allowed to Luke-sit anymore...

This was not how Han had imagined his day would go that morning. He hadn’t planned rushing to a fancy bar after an emergency call from Lando to find a very very spiced up Luke acting like a four-years-old child. At least Lando had managed to get hold of the back office from the owner and he had herded the kid inside.

“So, let me summaries this.” Han started. “You took Luke out for a drink to unwind, then between you and his jedi abilities you didn’t notice that someone put something into his drink?”

Lando rubbed the back of his head. “Well… It could have been the service droid.”

“Really?” Han glared.

Luke found out that the chair behind the desk was a swivel chair. He sat on it and kept it rotating non-stop. Han got dizzy by just watching him.

“It spiiiiiiiiiins!” the kid cried and kept the chair moving.

“I won’t mop it up if you vomit!” Lando addressed Luke, then turned back to Han. “Okay, look, just help me get him back to normal before his sister finds out and murders me.”

“Uh-uh!” Han moved a finger in front of his friend’s face from side to side. “Leia will torture you till you beg for death, then _I_ ’ll kill you! When it will suit me of course!”

Lando rolled his eyes at him “Stars! I already feel sorry for your future child!”

“Well, you don’t get to babysit! You can’t even watch out for Luke!” Han grumbled. He glanced at the said kid. Luke was still spinning around with the chair and woo-ing loudly.

“Watch…??? You do realize he is what… twenty-seven or something?” Lando asked incrediously.

“Twenty-six and four months.” Han corrected him.

Lando shot him a funny face so he had to explain himself “I married his _twin_ -sister! Imagine the consequences of forgetting her birthday!”

“Oh…” Lando scratched the back of his head.

“Exactly!” Han huffed. Another glance at the kid revealed that Luke stopped spinning the chair and ended up clutching the desk while he tried to ride through the dizziness. Han sighed. “Let’s just fix this first. Do you know what drug is this?”

“Nope.”

Han glared again. “Did you take a blood-sample? Places like this have the equipment for those quick tests.”

“I tried to. But Luke just found out that he is terrified of needles.”

Luke’s head snapped up from the desk and blinked at them. His eyes were nearly black, because of his dilated pupils. He gasped at them when he heard the word ‘needle’. “Scary, bad things!”

Han rubbed his face with a growl. “Than test his glass!”

“And that” Lando started, “Is his new very favorite object in the galaxy and wouldn’t trade it for anything else!”

Han looked at Luke, who was waving the glass with his right hand. “You gotta be kidding with me!”

“I wish I was.” Lando shrugged. “Nothing worked. I even offered his lightsaber for it.”

Han froze. He slowly turned back to Lando. “Care to repeat that sentence?”

“What?” Lando blinked.

“Did you try to give him his lightsaber?” Han asked, his voice dangerously low.

“Well… he is really fond of that thing. It was worth a try.” Lando shrugged.

Han grabbed the other man’s collar and shook him hard. “Are you out of your mind? You tried to give a very spiced up man an extremely dangerous weapon? A weapon that can cut off limbs. Or heads. Or I don’t know, but it can definitely cut off your testicles! I can give you a demonstration!”

“I definitely won’t give you the lightsaber.” Lando muttered as he peeled Han’s fingers off from his shirt.

"And how did you get hold of it in the first place?" Han asked with a frown.

"He threw it at me..." Lando huffed. “And we have a problem.”

“You don’t say!” Han glared.

“Other than the overall situation. Luke is gone.” Lando pointed at the empty desk.

“What?” Han spun around and gaped at the room in front of him. How in the nine corellian he… Oh, that’s how! The office had a window which was widely open. From outside they heard the sound of shattering glass, then a very colorful Huttese cursing, followed by a childish giggle. Han raced to the window just to see Luke running towards one of the huge skyscrapers around them.

“Lando! Take a sample from the glass, then get a kriffing speeder and come after me!”

With that he jumped out of the window and ran after his brother-in-law, who by the look of it was really happy to use his godforsaken-force-amplified abilities to climb on the side of the building. More precisely, to jump from balcony to balcony towards the top.

“Gotta be kidding!” Han hissed as he rushed through the entrance of the building. He ignored the droid that tried to stop him and entered the lift.

“Lando is officially dead!” he rumbled to himself as the elevator’s door opened on the last floor. He hurried up to the roof to find Luke standing on the ledge.

“Hey, kiddo!” Han called carefully. “Maybe, you know, take few steps backwards just to be sure?”

Luke blinked at him, but did not step away from the ledge. He pointed at the speeders that were rushing past the building with eyes sparkling with wonder and spice.

“Look! They are flying! Like in those movies! You know! Star Wars!”

Han tried not wince as Luke started doing little jumps of excitement. He slowly crept towards the younger man.

“Luke, those are documentaries of the Rebellion. You know, the one we fought in.”

“We fought?” Luke asked back with confusion. “But fighting is wrong! Aunt Beru said so!”

“Weeell… It was a good fight? Against bad guys? You remember Vader and Palpatine and… Jab---“

“Vader is my daddy!” Luke grinned brightly.

 “You sound way too happy about that fact.” Han mumbled to himself. He nearly reached Luke, when the kid spun back towards the traffic.

“We jump on one!”

“We are not jumping on one!”

“Yes, we do!” with that Luke prepared to jump, but Han lunged forward and grabbed the kid’s waist and using his momentum spun them back to safety. They both landed hard on the roof, Han on top of Luke.

“Spoilsport” Luke mumbled into the dirt under them.

“Sorry,” Han said as he pulled Luke up to his feet.

“Well, I’m not sorry!” Luke pouted.

“For…wha---“ Han couldn’t manage to finish his question, because Luke’s fist collided with his stomach. The ex-smuggler doubled over, while Luke whohoo-ed loudly and darted towards the ledge. Then he jumped.

“Luke!” Han shouted after him. He staggered to the place from where the kid had jumped and gaped at the sigh in front of him. Luke made his way through the traffic by jumping from one vehicle onto the other till he disappeared out of sight.

“Gods darn it!” Han hissed and hurried back into the building.

The droid at the entrance didn’t try to stop him on his way out. He raced back to the place where he had parked his speeder previously and only stilled when he started the engine. He had no kriffing idea where to look for Luke. Actually, he had no idea where Lando was, so he wasted few moments on cursing the nine hells out of his friend, then he turned his attention back to his problem. Well, he had one solution…

With a defeated sigh he pulled his commlink out and called his wife.

“Han?” Leia’s sleepy voice filled the speeder. “What is it?”

“Just a quick question! Can you pinpoint Luke’s location to me, please?”

Maybe she wouldn’t ask….

He heard her hum, then the sound of rustling clothes.

“Brewery District, I think… maybe at that fast food restaurant you both love way too much?” she mused.

“Okay! Thanks, Dear! Will be---“

“Nah! What’s going on, Han?” she asked, her voice had that dangerous edge to it.  Of course she had to ask...

“Erm… Nothing! Everything is fine!” Han replied quickly. He eased the speeder out of its parking spot and he joined the traffic.

“Do not nothing me!” Leia huffed. “Luke feels… bright and blurred? It’s confusing. He doesn’t reply to my call. What’s going on?”

“I have to go now!” He said quickly, then an idea crossed his mind. “You may want to hunt down Lando!”

With that he ended the call and concentrated on driving. He really hoped that the spice in Luke’s system was the kind that causes hunger, because that would give him some time. There would be another problem to solve, once Luke was safe. Who knows who the culprit behind all this could be. Luke had many enemies, he was one of the favorite targets of assassins and he had once a run in with that insane scientist too… Han sighed. Well, sleep is for the weak, right?

He parked his speeder down in front of the Oddity and jumped out of the vehicle.

“Nulro!” he called as he stormed into the tiny restaurant. The owner of the place, an ortolan, who had been standing behind the counter turned toward him.

“Solo! What a pleasant surprise!” he replied.

“Nulro! Have you seen Luke?” Han asked ignoring the greeting.

The ortolan hummed, then nodded slowly with his big head.

“Yeah, he’ve been here. Though, he didn’t eat. Not like him.”

“Well,” Han shrugged. “He is not…well?”

“Is he sick?” Nurlo asked with worry.

Han decided to ignore this question too. “Where is he?”

“He left with a friend of his.”

“Friend? What friend?” Han asked hopefully and reached for his commlink. Maybe Lando had found Luke and they were back on their way to the safety of their home?

“Doesn’t know him.” Nulro shook his head. “Been waiting for Luke here.”

That… was not good. Han decided. Nulro knew Lando and most of their friends, like the Rogue Squadron, Chewbacca and other formal rebels. Anyone else was potential danger.

“What race?” he asked his mind racing.

“Human, I think.” Nulro shrugged. “Didn’t see his face well.”

“Thanks, Nulro!” Han nodded and left the restaurant. Outside the streets were filled with humans and aliens despite the late hour. Han called Leia again.

“You damn nerf herder!” his wife greeted him. “Lando told me everything!”

“Later! Where is Luke!” he urged her. She must have sensed his nervousness, because she didn’t continue her angry rant.

“Not far from you.” Leia murmured, her voice distant. “South.”

He followed her instructions as he pushed forward in the crowd. He noted with growing worry that he was getting closer a docking bay.

“On your left!” Leia warned him through the comm. He turned towards the said direction and spotted the kid. He was being pulled towards a ship by a man whose face was concealed by a dark hood. Luke didn’t seem distressed, rather he was staring at everything with wonder. Han ended his call to Leia with an angry growl and hurried after the pair. Friend of course! He pulled his blaster out carefully and changed the setting to stun. There were fewer people here, in the docking bays, which made matters a little bit easier.

“Stop right there!” he shouted once there was only few standard meters between the pair and the ship.

The man who was dragging Luke by the arm spun around and before Han could shoot him with his blaster, he pulled the kid in front of himself. And of course, placed a kriffing blaster to the kid’s temple.

“Stand down!” a harsh voice warned from under the hood. “Or I blast his brain out!”

Luke beamed and waved brightly towards Han.

“No, you won’t!” Han called back. “You want him alive or why go through the trouble of spicing him senseless?”

The would-be-kidnapper rumbled something under the hood and pulled at the kid roughly. Luke blinked at the harsh treatment with confusion, then crossed his arms in front of himself with a pout.

“I won’t be your friend if you are rude!”

“Luke, he is not friend!” Han called.

“No?” Luke cocked his head to the side with confusion, then stumbled a little when the man behind him jerked him again.

“No! He…” Han thought frantically for a good reason which would register with Luke’s spiced up brain, then… he grinned. “He said ugly thinks of Leia!”

“I did not!” the man protested, but it was too late. Luke’s eyes darkened and his body stiffened. The man behind him stilled too, then his blaster fell onto the ground with a loud clatter. The attacker gasped loudly and he crawled at his throat with his gloved hands. Luke turned slowly towards him with a scarily blank face. It took only few long steps from Han to reach the pair and wrapped his arms carefully around Luke. The attacker’s face, who by the look of it was a human male was turning blue.

“Easy now! We don’t kill people.” Han murmured softly to the kid.

“But I want to!” Luke hissed.

“No, you don’t!”

“I…no?” Luke asked back this time with confusion. Han shook his head. The man in front of them collapsed to the ground and gasped loudly. Han pulled his commlink out and called for security. He kept a firm arm around Luke though who was looking around again with wonder. Security arrived soon and Han was all too happy to hand the culprit over. He stirred Luke back to his speeder.

“Can I drive it!” Luke asked brightly when he spotted the vehicle.

“Tomorrow!” Han strapped the younger man in and took the driver’s seat. He called Leia again after he joined the traffic.

“Han?” Leia asked worriedly.

“Leia!” Luke cried happily. Luckily, the twins engaged into an enthusiastic chat, so Han could concentrate on driving. Leia was really good at talking with this childish version of Luke. She kept the conversation going till they reached their apartment complex, where according to Leia a meddroid was waiting for them. This time Luke decided to be clingy and attached himself onto Han, which made the trip up to their apartment long and awkward. Though, Han mused it was kind of good to see a little less (okay, lot less) controlled Luke. He might just not kill that guy after all.

He herded the younger man into their apartment, where Leia and Lando was waiting for them.

“What happened with the get a speeder and follow me part?” Han asked Lando with a  glare.

“To where? You forgot to give me updates on your location!” Lando huffed with exasperation.

“Leia knew where I was!”

To that Lando just rolled his eyes, then he motioned at the meddroid that was keeping a close eyes on Luke.

“This spice, drug, whatever… should have been a strong narcotic, but as you can see… it didn’t go according to plan. It’s effect should wear off, Luke just need to sleep it off.”Lando explained.

“I don’t want to sleep!” Luke pouted and hid behind Han. As skinny as he was he totally disappeared out of sight behind the larger man.

“I know, Luke!” Leia said kindly and held out a mug to her twin. “Here, hot chocolate! It’ll make you feel better!”

Luke peeked at the mug, then after a tentative sniff at it, he snatched it out of his sister’s hands. The others stood back till he devoured the sweet drink. Leia whispered a ‘wait for it’ quietly and she took the mug out of his brother’s hands. Luke started blinking slowly and his eyes turned owlish. Han, who started to guess what kind of hot chocolate that really was herded the younger man towards the couch. Luke happily crawled onto the furniture and curled up like a spukamas. He was sound asleep a moment later.

“Let me get this straight.” Han started whispering. “You gave narcotics to a guy, who had been drugged with a narcotic and ended up hyperactive?”

“It was another kind of drug.” Leia smiled and patted her brother’s hair.

“Okay, so everything is good and well, so… I’m outta here?” Lando started inching towards the door.

“Oh, you are not.” Leia smiled dangerously.


	9. The Corellian Rule

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They thought they had more time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure that I wanted to post this, but.... I did it anyway. I'm so sorry. Enjoy?

_There was a Corellian rule that said, if you save another being's life, you become responsible for it for the rest of your life._

 

Luke found himself lying in the shrubbery surrounded by ewoks and few of his other rebel companions after the night in the ewok village. Few hundred standard meters in front of him was their target and he noted with a sinking feeling, his father. He had mixed feelings about his decision to stay with the others and probably doom the mission with his presence that all but screamed his location into the Force. However, somehow Leia had managed to convince him to stay. There was no going back now. He reached out mentally and found Leia’s and Han’s presence at the other end of the clearing. He sighed as he noted that Han was still surrounded by that dark mixture of feelings that settled onto him last night. Maybe they should have told him. But stars, Leia and him had needed some time to adjust. It was not too much to ask, right? They would explain, when this is over. He promised himself.

One of the rebels, a middle-aged man shifted a little next to him. He was probably nervous. They would commence their attack in a few minutes.

“You know,” the older man started quietly. Luke glanced at him and met with a pair of warm brown eyes. So, he was talking to him.

“Once I followed a Jedi into a battle. I’m ready to do it again.” The man said with a smile that was as warm as his dark eyes.

Vader got closer. The Force reminded him with a nudge. However, for a few seconds Luke ignored it and returned the smile with his own.

“I’m honored! he whispered.

“Get ready and wait for my sign!” Han’s voice came through their comms.

“Copy that!” Luke replied and turned back to his father’s dark presence.

Now or never.

The scream of a TIE fighter broke through the peaceful silence of the forest. Luke blinked up at the sky, but all he saw was bright green, than nothing.

***

Han had spent the morning battling with the green-eyed monster, better known as jealousy. After the carbon-freeze all of this was just too confusing. This raging battle inside him, his feelings for Leia against his loyalty to Luke was overwhelming and threatened his leadership. He shook his head and pushed it away and locked it into the darkest corner of his mind.

Later. After this is over. They would talk.

Leia touched his arm and gave him a tiny nod. He nodded back and reached for his commlink.

“Get ready and wait for my sign!” he ordered.

“Copy that!”

Luke’s warm and calm voice nearly destroyed his fragile balance. Despite his new calmer and darker look, he was still the kid. The one he saved and therefore was his responsibility. That was the old Corellian rule. His own selfish feelings had no right to befoul their bond.

Later! He hissed at himself.

“Okay…” he called to his men. “Ready---“

He turned his head sharply up to the sky, when he heard the scream of a TIE fighter. It was close, way too close!

He watched with horror as the fighter appeared above them and released a line of fire aimed at the other side of the clearing. The TIE didn’t turn back, just disappeared. First nothing happened, then all hell broke loose. A sudden roar filled the dead silence, then a furious storm ripped through the trees. His men didn’t wait for his order, way too lost in their grief, confusion and anger, they attacked with enraged battle-cries. The returning fire came immediately.

Han ignored it all. He raised his commlink to his mouth. His hand was shaking madly.

“Luke?” he called out. His voice sounded desperate and shook just like his hand. He nearly dropped the commlink.

No reply came.

He glanced to the side. Leia was sitting on her heels rocking back and forth. Her tiny frame shook madly synchronously with her rapid intakes of air. Her bony fingers were clutching the sides of her head.

Suddenly she started screaming.

Han moved without thinking and wrapped his arms around her. Her screams were deafening this close.

“Leia! Leia!” He called, but it didn’t help.

Chewbacca appeared out of nowhere next to them. Han pushed the woman into the furry arms. He felt guilty, but there was something important he had to do.

He had to know!

“Get her out of here!” he ordered. He jumped to his feet and entered the fray without really acknowledging it. Stormy wind pushed against him, he nearly fell to the ground, but he managed to stagger forward. He didn’t even see the red laser-bolts that zigzagged past him, nor did he notice the falling bodies around him. Somehow, he reached the other side of the clearing, but when he did, he wished he didn’t. He spotted Luke easily. The kid lay on his back, blue eyes staring at the sky. He looked unharmed, not like the older man’s body next to him, that had been torn to pieces by the merciless attack. Luke looked unharmed, except that the chest under the poncho wasn’t moving and the blue eyes lacked the boundless energy that characterized the young man.

Han’s brain refused to acknowledge this.

He stepped forward and sank to his knees next to his friend. He placed his palm above Luke’s heart. His mind didn’t register the lack of heartbeat either. Those blue orbs that weren’t _right_ disturbed him, so with a gentle movement of his hand, he closed them. This way everything looked okay. Luke had the tendency to fall asleep any place, any time. This way… Yes. Just sleeping.

The storm raged around him, but he lost track of time. He needed to guard the kid’s sleep. He had to guard him. He had saved the kid. That was the Corellian rule.

Something caught his eyes. Red was flashing not far from them. Red flashed against white, a towering dark shadow. It took him several minutes to understand.

Darth Vader was killing stormtroopers.

Why?

And the storm raged on.

Han checked on the kid again. The furious wind seemed to quiet down around Luke. It ruffled his hair gently, like a caring parent of a sleeping child.

He looked up again and noted with shock, that Vader was standing few steps away from them. The black mask was tilted towards the kid. The huge black monster didn’t move, just stared.

Han pulled his blaster out and aimed it at the beast. He remembered Vader’s fanatic obsession with Luke. It was Han’s job to protect him. However, Vader ignored the blaster. He didn’t even lift his face towards it. Han nearly pulled the trigger (revengerevengerevenge!), but a sudden female voice cut through the raging storm and stilled his movements.

“The Emperor killed your son!”

Leia’s eyes were flashing, surrounded by ruined make-up. Few locks of her hair broke free from her bun and danced around her to the furious music of the wind. Vader turned his head towards her slowly, then stilled. Contrast to that, the ground started shaking. Han put his palm back onto Luke’s chest. Keep him safe.

Then Leia spoke again, her eyes on Vader. “The Emperor killed my brother!”

Brother? Han blinked. Brother… It hurt to think about the meaning behind her words, so he shut it out. They had thought, they had more time.

Vader didn’t say a word, but the shaking of the ground intensified.

“Will you revenge him for me?” Leia’s voice had a child-like pleading undertone. “Will you kill the Emperor for me?”

Vader remained silent. His dreaded red blade flashed out of its hilt and with a flaring cape he spun around. He strode towards the shield-generator. Leia fell into step with him.

Han stared after them, his mind blank. He wouldn’t go. He should have, but he couldn’t.

There was a Corellian rule.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really am sorry!


	10. A Lost Cause

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are really not good at this...

"We can do this!" Han nodded to himself as he stood in the middle of his apartment's kitchen. 

"No, we can't." Luke countered. They had repeated this pair of statements three times already, but they hadn't done anything else ever since Had had announced his plan for the day. They day that he originally had planned to spend preparing his speeder for the race the Rouges would have the next day in the Stadium. However, that morning Han had called him over to do exactly nothing. Well, that was not exactly true, Luke had been snatching little pieces of fruit out of the bowl that had been placed onto the counter, at which he was sitting.

Han spun around and pointed his finger at the younger man. "Yes, we can! I even watched the related episode of Cooking With An Ortolan!"

"Wow! That's sweet!" Luke grinned, then he too held up a finger. "But, we still can't!"

"What's up with you and this negativity?" Han huffed and crossed his arms. "And cut it out!"

"Wha'?" Luke asked innocently and flicked another berry like fruit into his mouth. Han snatched the bowl away with a glare.

"Hey!" Luke growled, then shrugged. "I'm not negative, just trying to be realistic. I'm a horrible cook. You are a horrible cook. That Alderaanian cupcake  is doomed."

"You are just being difficult!" Han fumed.

A sudden frown appeared on Luke's face as he mused over his day so far. "Wait a minute!"

"What?" Han blinked.

Luke's eyes narrowed at his best friend. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Whaaat?" Han mumbled and looked anywhere other than the young Jedi. It didn't help Luke's suspicion.

"This. Why are we trying to cook an Alderaanian cupcake to Leia? It's not Life Day. Not even our life day. Wha'...." he trailed off and his eyes widened. "Don't tell me..."

Han's eyes widened too, then he blinked owlishly. His hands fidgeted with the fruit-bowl. His already tan face darkened even more on his cheeks. Was Han actually blushing?

"Holly Hells! Yes! You want to propose!" Luke exclaimed loudly, half rising from his seat, leaning over the counter towards his friend.

"Yeah... About that..." Han placed the bowl back onto the counter out of Luke's reach (Really...?), then he cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head.

"Abouuut...?" Luke asked as nothing else had come out of Han's mouth, though he doesn't really payed attention. His mind was too busy doing victory dance. He had waited for that moment since Endor. Man, you can't even imagine how hard it had been for him to keep unwanted male attention away from his sister. Without Leia finding out about it of course. So many rich and uppish men had set eyes on his twin-sister. Luckily, they had thought that approaching Luke first was a good idea. Well, he very politely had made sure that they could never get close to his sister. It was his job after all! Though, Chewie's, Winter's and Lando's help had been welcome too.

"I wanted to ask you for your blessing." Han said finally.

That startled Luke out of his musings. "My what?"

"Blessing." Han shifted uncomfortably. "She has no father left, you are her only living relative, moreover her brother and my friend. So, I'm asking for your blessing."

Luke played with the idea of Han asking for Vader's blessing. It was a hell of a mental image! Then he forced himself back to the present. Yoda had been right about his wandering mind. Maybe he has ADHD?

"Of course you have my blessing!" he said finally. "You two are good for each other. I'm really happy for your!"

Han's shoulders slumped with relief. "Thank you, kid! It means a lot for me."

Luke grinned back at his friend, then clasped his hands together. "So... where were we? Cupcake. By the way. Why didn't you buy an instant version?"

"I want it to be original, not some cheap pastiche. And... I don't trust instant stuff. Once I burnt an instant corellian pizza. I still have nightmares about it." Han shuddered at the memory.

Luke gaped. "How in the nine hells did you manage to burn an instant food? Like... seriously! How???"

"I don't want to remember." Han mumbled quietly. Luke had hard time in tearing himself away from that mental image, but somehow he managed and he walked around the counter to stand next to his soon to be brother-in-law. 

"So... how do we do this?" he asked peering at the ingredients.

"I have no kriffing idea!" Han sighed.

"Call Winter?" Luke asked. 

Han nodded with defeat. "Call Winter."

  


	11. The New Rebellion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han didn't turn back the Falcon during the Battle of Yavin.

That’s it. Han thought as the Executor’s tractor-beam pulled the Falcon towards the huge ship. It’s finally over. He let go of the controls with a sigh. Maybe he could have avoided this. Maybe he could have fought better. However, ever since Yavin, he couldn’t care. He had left two very special kids die in that gods forsaken battle. He hadn’t turned back. Still, a sad smile found its way onto his face. The kid had managed to blow up that Death Star. But not in time. While the blast hadn’t been strong enough to destroy the whole moon, it had been enough for the rebel base. Strong enough to wipe out Leia Organa’s flame from the Galaxy. The Death Star had been even more unforgiving, as no X-wing escaped the explosion. Luke Skywalker’s supernova ended with it.

“I’m sorry, pal.” he told Chewbacca, who after all his mistakes sill remained by his side. “Don’t fight them, okay?”

Chewie rumbled something back. Han didn’t really paid attention. The Falcon stopped moving with a jolt. Han rose and walked slowly to the lounge are. Chewbacca followed him. The Falcon’s ramp opened and a horde of stormtroopers rushed inside. They were forced to their knees, then both of them received heavy binders around their wrists. Chewbacca didn’t fight them, Han noted with a relieved sigh. They were pulled up and led outside. Even more stormtroopers waited for them there with a high ranking officer standing in front of the army.

“Your ship is on our wanted list.” The officer spat at them. “You are prisoners of the Empire. Take them to their cells!”

“Wait, Admiral!” they heard a shout. Another officer, the captain, Han noted as he saw the rank bars, hurried towards them.

“What is it, Piett?” The Admiral hissed.

Captain Piett took a deep breath and replied with a straight posture. “The Prince claims the prisoners as his owns. Wants them up in his quarters.”

The Prince? What Prince? The Empire had a Prince? Han gaped. And what did that said Prince want with them? Seemingly the Admiral had similar thoughts. He gritted his teeth together.

“Well, the Prince could just…” He mumbled quietly.

“Pardon?” Piett asked back way too politely.

“Captain, please take the prisoners to the Prince.” The Admiral hissed and stalked away. Piett waved at the troopers around the pair and they were pushed forward. They were led through the Executor. That huge ship was a maze for Han. He thought about memorizing the route, but he hadn’t got enough energy left to care. He had been so tired since Yavin. After a while they stopped in front of a huge metal door. Piett touched a button on the control panel and the door opened.

They came face to face with two Wookiees.

One of them roared angrily at the sight in front of him. Piett shifted uneasily as the two pairs of eyes turned on him.

“They are still prisoners.” he reasoned.

He stepped inside, Han and Chewie were nudged forward too, but the troopers stayed outside.

“Vruppo is right, Piett! The blinders are not needed anymore.” a very familiar voice called from an adjoining room.

Han froze. He was so shocked that he didn’t even notice, when Piett freed them.

“My Lord, I---“ Piett tried to speak, but was cut off.

“For Force’s sake, Piett, how many times do I have to tell you, you can call me ---“

“Luke?!” Han gapped.

The kid stepped inside of the what Han assumed was a living-room and waved brightly at the smuggler. “See? It’s not that hard!”

Piett took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. “My Lord. If you don’t need me anymore, I have important things to attend to.”

“You are free to go, Captain!” Luke dismissed the older man with a smile. Piett left the room in a hurry and left the two humans alone with the Wookiees. Luke watched Han with head cocked to the side.

“You look pale.” He noted. “You should sit down.”

Han didn’t move, just stared at the kid. Luke had changed since he had last seen him. Two years had passed. Luke’s light-colored clothes were replaced by a black uniform like jacket and simple black pants. He had a rank bar on his chest that Han didn’t recognize. His posture was straight and controlled, just like his face. The only exceptions was his hair. It was still a dirty blond mess. Something familiar.

Strong hands were placed onto his shoulders. Chewie’s. He was lead to the couch and pushed down gently. Luke followed suit, sitting down in front of him, while the three Wookiees stood in a half-circle around them.

“What happened?” Han asked finally.

“Where should I start?” Luke mused brightly.

“Battle of Yavin?” Han offered, still shocked to his core.

“Riiiight.” Luke nodded. “The Battle Of Yavin. I think you know I blew up the Death Star. Too late though.” he turned away for a second. “My ship had been damaged. Badly. I was picked up by the Imperials. Precisely, Darth Vader. I spent an hour in interrogation.”

Han flinched. A whole other thing to feel guilty about.

“But then,” Luke continued smiling again. “It turned out that I’m related to Vader himself. Interrogation over, I was brought up from the detention area to a very fancy personal quarter. Vader’s. I’ve spent a week sulking in there, till Vader told me something that brought things into perspective. Everything changed and somehow I managed to adapt.”

“You are related to Vader?” Han gaped.

Luke scratched the back of his head. “About that… He is my father.”

“YOUR WHAT???” Han shouted. He felt like fainting. Maybe he did, because for a several minutes his mind didn’t register anything. A heavy hand was placed on his shoulder again. Chewie. It was comforting. 

“So… You are imperial now?” he managed after an eternity.

“Yes … and no.” Luke shrugged. “Not how you think I am. Being the son of Vader means that I’m the third in rank after the Emperor and Vader. Like it or not, this is power. I didn’t like it at first, but I came to accept it. Do you know why?” He didn’t wait for Han’s reply. “That means that I have the power to truly change things. For starters, I clamed owner ship on every Wookiee slave in the Galaxy. Then I freed them and made it forbidden to have a Wookiee slave.” Then Luke’s face fell, exasperation taking over. “Of course, you can imagine how many of them claimed Life Depth.”

“A lot?” Han grinned tiredly.

“ALL OF THEM!” Luke cried with exasperation. The two Wookiees barked in laughter. “I personally had to order them home. And just to make things more complicated, they decided that at least two male Wookiees have to guard me ALL THE TIME. By the way, this is Vruppo and Hyathruthrahn. I’m sorry, I still don’t know how to spell it correctly…”

Han laughed loudly. To his ears, it sounded hysteric.

“When we took over Tatooine.” Luke started speaking again.

“You were the one who killed Jabba?” Han hissed. “And just to piss of the Hutts, you left a woman in charge?”

“We will get back to that soon.” Luke waved his finger. “But yes, I did. With Vader’s help. I also found out that you were on some kinda rampage. According a bounty-hunter at least. I got worried and… made sure you got here in one piece.”

“So, it was you. The only alive bounty.” Han said slowly.

Luke looked embarrassed. “Weeeell, I was worried. Are you mad?”

“I don’t know how to feel.” Han admitted. “I’m confused like hells.”

“I can imagine.” Luke nodded. “But I can’t say it will be better.”

He turned serious eyes at Han. “Can I trust you?”

Han thought about it for a moment. He remembered back at the last two years, how everything seemed meaningless. Even more after Jabba’s death. And… there was still Leia’s death that loomed over him. He got back one kid.

“Yes. You can trust me.”

Luke smiled brightly. “Good, because I will need your help. The Rebellion is still not over. Our main base is on Tatooine.”

“You are participating in a rebellion, while basically living with Vader?” Han gaped. He looked around with suspicion. “What if he finds out?”

“Oh, he knows.” Luke blinked innocently. “He is participating too.”

“Now you lost me.” Han all but stammered. His head was spinning dangerously. Everything Luke was saying didn’t make any sense. “Are you messing with me?”

“Why would I do that?” Luke frowned. “Look, the Emperor got my father on his side through my mother’s, my twin-sister’s and my death. As it turned out, my sister and I are very much alive. So, thus, the Emperor got a very powerful enemy in Vader.”

Han just stared at the young man in front of him. One information did register through the madness that was happening around him. “You have a twin?”

Luke’s face brightened again. “Yes! The woman you mentioned on Tatooine. She is my twin. Come! She’d want to see you!”

So, there was a female version of Luke. Han mused tiredly as he followed Luke to the adjoining room. There was a huge holo-table in the middle of it. Luke stopped in front of the table and started pushing buttons on the side panel. The room darkened around them and the holo-table came to life. Then a figure, that Han thought wouldn’t see ever again appeared in front of them.

“Leia?” he breathed.

“Han?” she looked surprised too. And relieved? Her appearance changed too. The clothes she wore were still light colored (try moving around in black clothes in the desert) and more fitted for Tatooine’s harsh weather. She had wrapped a light-colored scarf around her head, which made her eyes shine even more intensely then before. Even as a holo-projection.

“I told you I’ll find him!” Luke grinned.

“Yes, you did.” Leia smiled. She was not just dressed for desert, but Han spotted something else. Her personality was different. Contrast to her harsh confidence during their frantic escape from the battle-station, she seemed… humble.

The kids exchanged few more words, while Han watched the woman in front of him silently. Then the call ended and he was back in that strange ship with that strange Luke.

“How is that even possible?” Han breathed. He turned and hurried back to the first room. He needed to sit down. Luke and the Wookiees followed him, though they kept a tiny distance.

“The Death Star missed.” Luke explained. “The shock wave was still destructive, but the old temple had been built during those time when the Sith ruled the Galaxy. Like now…” Luke shook his head. “Never mind. What I wanted to say, that the temple was built to endure, it … absorbed the shock wave. Mostly. Though, Leia was still very lucky. The temple collapsed on them and only she survived. And Threepio, but he is a droid so he doesn’t count.” Luke grinned. “Artoo is fine too, by the way.”

“Of course the droids are okay…” Han muttered.

“However, she still needed a prosthetic hand.” Luke added and his face fell. “It was also fortunate, that by the time the imperials had found her, my heritage was out in the open. I bargained for her life. Vader decided to save her. She needed transfusion and I was the perfect donor. This is how we found out that we are siblings. One of the doctors noticed that we share way too much amount of DNA.” a tiny laugh left Luke’s lips. “Father was ballistic!”

Han thought about the ordeal the siblings went through. How alone they were during the events. They had found each other in the very last minute. He should have been there. To stop them being so alone. To help somehow.

“I’m sorry.” he said finally, very quietly.

“For what?” Luke’s voice was gentle.

“Not being here. I should have turned back the Falcon. I shouldn’t have left at all.” he looked up into the sky-colored eyes of the kid. There was no sign of the innocence that had been there two very long years ago. “Therefore, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize!” Luke smiled. “Maybe things would have turned out very differently. Maybe more people would have survived or not. You could have died too. We wouldn’t know. But, what I do know, that the four of us is alive and we have a very powerful ally on our side. We are still fighting, but our chances are better than ever. There is only one question left. Will you fight with us? You can’t hide behind the Jabba business, I took care of it personally!”

Han stayed quiet for a moment, but he didn’t need to think. He knew what life was like without the kid and his sister. (How easy it was to accept that?!) He didn’t want to go back to that life again.

“I’ll be right behind you, kid!” he finally grinned truthfully for the first time in the last two years. Luke beamed proudly and straightened himself. He was about to say something, when the door flew open.

“Why is there the ugliest hunk of junk I’ve ever seen sitting in my docking-bay, young one!” Vader’s voice boomed as he strode in.

“Weeeellll, about that….” Luke started, then trailed off, when Vader froze at the sight of Han.

“Young one?” Vader inquired slowly.

“This is Captain Han Solo, my second!” Luke beamed, then he motioned at Chewie. “And this is Chewbacca. He is with us too!”

“Since?” Vader asked again.

“Now?” Luke blinked innocently.

Vader stayed quiet for a few seconds, while Han tried not to inch behind the kid. Being in the presence of Darth Forsaken Vader was truly terrifying.

“You should choose your friends more carefully, young one.” Vader said finally.

“You are the one to talk!” Luke huffed petulantly and crossed his arms in front of himself. “For example Admiral Ozzel. This ship is outrageously out of his league. Captain Piett is much more competent.”

“That is can be taken care off easily.” Vader sounded menacing and his right hand clenched at his side.

“You mean by firing him without murdering, right?” Luke asked innocently.

Vader growled loudly, at which Han flinched. The black giant spun around, cape flying behind him and stormed out of the room.

“FINE!”                 


	12. Old Karishma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a legend that only Corellians know. The legend of Old Karishma... She is an old spirit, the protector of family, teacher of children. Mother of all Corellians and a mother never gives up on any of her children. Not even on the most stubborn, wayward ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but work and uni was hell... I hope you'll like it!

Han never had been the most organized man in the Galaxy. He left things here and there. He had lost so many tools, blasters, commlinks and chronos, that he almost felt ashamed. However, usually he keeps the most important things of his close.

So, how in the nine Corellian hells had he managed to lose Luke kriffing Skywalker in Kor Vella?

The duo had travelled to Corellia to escape the busy life of Coruscant for a week. Leia had gone to visit Mon Mothma on Chandrila and Chewie had insisted on accompanying her, so it had been just the two of them. Han knew that Luke loved ancient things, so he had thought that the kid would like Kor Vella’s historic areas. And he did! Luke’s Jedi mask had slipped off his face the moment he had spotted the old buildings, he turned into a shiny-eyed, awy young man again.

However, Han had a second reason for the trip. Leia was pregnant, in her first trimester. He was going to be a father. It was a secret that only Luke and Chewie knew. Not that the couple had a chance to keep this information to themselves. Luke and Chewie had known even before the parents had found out. Kriffing Jedi senses and Wookiee nose. So, Han was going to be a father, which for he wasn’t sure he was ready. He had talked with Chewie about that, but the Wookiee was a parent too and he had a bad case of baby-is-coming-enthusiasm, so Han wasn’t sure that his friend’s opinion was objective. But Luke was a good listener and he hadn’t yet started running around buying baby stuff.

However, it was really hard discussing things even with Luke, when the kid was kinda missing…

Han turned around slowly. The crowd that had filled the narrow streets of this part of Kor Vella had basically disappeared, only one or two persons wandered here and there. Not surprising, the sun was already setting. Han wasn’t particularly worried… okay, he was, but come on! The kid was the trouble-magnet extraordinaire! He was allowed to worry a bit!

“What an adorable young man!” he heard. He spun around and found himself face to face with an old woman. A very very old woman by the look of it. And the saying face to face wasn’t totally correct either, because she barely reached his waist. She was even shorter than Leia…

“Won’t you greet me?” she asked cheekily. She had the face of your average granny from holo-dramas, so Han allowed his shoulders to relax.

“I’m sorry, Granny, I’m just looking for my---“ he started, but he was cut off.

“Family!” The woman chirped.

Han scratched the back of his head. “Weeeell, he _is_ my brother in law…”

The old woman cocked her kind face to the side, her grey bun swayed on the top of her head. “So many bad things. Issues. Pain. Fear and anger.”

“Wha—“

“But do not fear, my dear! Old Karishma will take care of everything!” the woman chirped again.

“Wha…” Han trailed off. The name Old Karishma sounded very familiar.

The old woman spread her arms, then slammed her palms together forcefully. Light erupted from her tiny form and engulfed everything.

***

Luke Skywalker knew well that he wasn’t the kind of man you wanted to go on a trip with. Mostly, because he is physically unable to concentrate. Sometimes he still feels Yoda’s exasperated glare on him. His wandering mind caused his separation from Han too. ÍThe older man had been telling him stories of Kor Vella, when suddenly he had felt a pull. Of course, he had followed it without a word. The Corellian probably hadn’t even noticed that he was gone till… you know … he was gone. The thing that had captured his attention was a tiny old building at the outskirt of the city. It was nothing more than a hut and it seemed to be abandoned. His senses told him that there was no one here, so he went inside.

Don’t judge! He is incorrigibly curious! He couldn’t help it!

The inside of the building looked abandoned too. At least, he associated thick layer of dust with abandonment. Aunt Beru would never allowed dust to settle in her home. He turned around slowly. He couldn’t say that the building had been over-furnitured. There was a table with two chairs, a tiny cot and a bookshelf. Wait a minute… Books. Real books! He rushed to the wall and touched the hard covers gently.

Amazing!

A writing caught his eyes on one of the saddles.

_Karishma._

He reached for the book, but his hand froze. A huge wave rushed through the Force. It was so powerful that his legs nearly gave away under him and his hand started shaking badly. Reflexively he reached out for Han’s signature in the Force and noted with a sinking feeling that the former smuggler was way too close to the source of that anomaly.

And they called him trouble-magnet…

He abandoned his exploration and rushed outside. Han and the Source were close. He ran fast. Unnaturally fast. It seemed like that in no more than two steps, which actually was three streets, he was there.

He arrived just in time to see the blinding light enveloping Han’s startled form.

Luke was still running towards them, when he pushed against the light with the Force and pulled on Han’s signature.

It was over in a second. The blinding light disappeared and his hand grabbed onto a shoulder. Only…something was not quite right. Luke glanced down, secretly celebrating his still existing vision. He ended up questioning it though.

The Force said Han. His eyes said wide eyed, startled child. His mind said what the hells?!

He stared at the child, then he raised his eyes up to the old woman, who stood in front of them. His senses told him that she was the incredible power that he had felt. This time her signature was a calm lake in the Force, but before…

“How inconvenient. He should be younger to properly learn the lesson!” She murmured, her voice had a frustrated edge. Then her face turned to Luke and her aged face filled with awe. “However, also incredible. No one had ever win against me. You are a force of nature, Son of the Suns.”

Luke gave up on the Jedi calm and openly gaped at the old woman. “What happened? Who are you?”

The woman waved at herself gracefully. “They call me Karishma. I am the Mother of Corellia. I am the guardian of my people.”

“Like Artuna, Goddess Of Miracles on Tatooine.” Luke spoke more to himself than the woman.

“She sounds like an interesting person to meet.” Karishma smiled. She held her hand towards the child, whose shoulder he was still gripping maybe too forcefully. He quickly let go.

“I take care of my children. Every one of them. This child here desperately needed my help.”

“I don’t need help, thanks Ma’am!” the kid gave a lopsided salute.

Luke crossed his arms in front of himself with a sigh. “He is kinda smart. I’m pretty sure he can learn his lesson in his original form. Can you please turn him back?” he asked. He didn’t manage to sound as respectful as he wanted. Too frustrated for that. Just think about how livid Leia would be if she found out…

Karishma smiled gently, but shook her head. “I can’t do that. I wanted him to be even younger, but this will do. You, young one, need to learn a very important lesson. This man here, the Son of the Suns will teach it to you. Pay attention!”

“Me?” Luke blinked.

“Yes, you!” Karishma chirped. “Only you can turn him back, after the lesson is learned. Be a good teacher!”

Then Karishma disappeared. One second she was there, then the next she wasn’t. She left behind a stunned Jedi and a confused child. Luke stared at the spot, where he had last seen the woman. He was facing a hell of an adventure. His mind, the mind that dealt with people speaking in his head, moved things without his limbs, the mind that refused the Emperor, couldn’t process this. It had put ‘what the hells!’ on repeat and nothing else had a place in it.

His right hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the arm of the child, who was inching away from him slowly. He heard a very exasperated and dramatic groan.

Yep, that was Han…

***

Han with his no more than ten years couldn’t understand what was going on. First, there was that strange lady with her even stranger speech of learning a lesson. Ha! She has no clue! Then out of nowhere, there is this man. A Jedi! He had seen the lightsaber that hung from his belt. Of course, it could have been stolen. Everything can be stolen, Shrike said so! But the reflexes of a Jedi can’t be copied. He heard stories of the war heroes! He had even seen one marching through the capital with his clone troops! And this man, with this inhuman air around him was a Jedi!

A Jedi, who had a hell of a hold on his arm… What the hells? Is it prosthetic or what?

“Sir?” he started carefully. This was a new territory. He had never dealt with a Jedi. Shrike didn’t like them. Well, Shrike was a criminal, so that doesn’t count. But you are a criminal too! His mind supplied helpfully. You steal from innocent for Shrike! Wait a minute! He heard stories that said Jedi are mind-readers!

He panicked.

The Jedi turned towards him, his blue eyes watchful. He had kind and calm eyes, the very same color as Dewlanna’s and nothing like Shrike’s. He liked that color. Wait! Mind-readers! Stop thinking! How do you stop thinking?

The smile that appeared on the man’s face looked strained. “Will you run if I let go of your arm?”

“No?” he said slowly.

“Good!” the man let go of his arm, but Han didn’t run. He wanted to first, but he reminded himself of the you know, mind-reader thing and didn’t.

The man let out a long sigh. A very long sigh. Man, that was one of a kind! The hand that had been holding his arm went up and covered the blue orbs. He remained like that for a long moment, so long that Han had started shifting from one foot to the other. Then the Jedi’s hand fell away from his face and he was looking at him again.

“Han, you can calm down, okay? No one’s gonna hurt you, I promise!” the man spoke gently. He reminded him more and more of Dewlanna, only she wasn’t a male. Or human. Or Jedi…

“You know my name?” he asked hesitantly after a while. It’s official, Han nodded to himself, Jedi are mind-readers!

The man stared at him for an uncomfortable moment, this time his whole face seemed to be strained. “Yeah, about that…”

“And what’s yours?” Han asked eagerly.

The man seemingly hesitated. Why would someone hesitate before saying their name? It’s not something you usually forget! Unless… He crossed his arms in front of himself angrily. “Don’t lie to me!”

That startled the man. “My name is Luke. I wasn’t gonna lie, I just didn’t know if it was wise to reveal who I am to you.” he explained gently.

“Why not?” Then Han’s lips formed an o and his eyes widened with excitement. “Are you on a secret mission? Like a real Jedi mission? What is it about?” he asked eagerly.

Luke blinked at him slowly. At least he wasn’t so uptight as the other Jedi Han had seen. Luke suddenly straightened and turned his head away from him. His eyes glazed over as he paid attention to something completely different. Just like Dewlanna, when she used her sharp hearing to check on the pirates on the Trader’s Luck.

“Listen, Han.” Luke spoke softly, still looking at something else. “We should get going. The sun is down. You can stay with me until I figure out what’s going on. You will be safe with me, okay?”

Han hesitated Shrike would be really mad if he didn’t turn up on the rendezvous-point. But Luke said safe and Shrike wouldn’t dare to mess with a Jedi. Still Luke wouldn’t be there forever and…

“It’s okay!” he said with freighted cheerfulness. “I know places for the night---“

“Han. I really want you to stay with me for now, okay?” Luke sounded serious, then he hesitated again. “What about I show you how my lightsaber work?”

Han eyes widened with delight. “Really?”

“Really.” Luke nodded.

“Show me the way!” Han grinned.

***

Luke led Han through the maze of buildings. He kept a hand on the kid’s back, between his shoulder blades. The kid (HAN! He still had problems with coming to terms with that) had promised not to bolt, but the intent resurfaced few times and he had to be sure. He dictated a fast pace, because his danger-sense warned him of bad intents that were approaching. The Corellian nightlife was stirring and it was as safe as the Underworld of Coruscant. He projected ‘Not here’ non-stop, hoping that they would be left alone.

This was a very new situation for him. He was protective too, with his force-sensitivity and little sister (doesn’t matter what Leia says!), but he kind of got used to Han’s big brotherly presence with Chewie as a backup. This time though, he had to be the one in charge, just like in Jabbas palace. Aaaand he is not thinking about that…

They were lucky. They didn’t encounter any atrocities. Luke herded the kid into their apartment. Han looked around in awe, while Luke kicked off his boots with a sigh.

“This place is…” Han searched for a word. “nice?”

“Thanks” Luke’s jacket ended up on the back of a chair. “Make yourself at home.”

Han shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His hands fidgeted with his shirt, his dark eyes flew around uncertainly. Luke blinked at him. He really didn’t like what this all said to him.

“That means you can sit down anywhere, touch anything, like a place with which you are familiar.” he explained.

Han nodded quickly and sat down onto a chair. He had the most awkward posture Luke had ever seen. Straight backed, hands in his lap, eyes on the floor. It looked highly uncomfortable. Luke resisted the urge to scratch the skin off his own face, instead he took a deep calming breath.

“Han! I meant it! Relax!” he said.

Han bit down on his lower lip, then allowed his hands to fall off his lap. He started swinging his legs back and forth. He was still before his growth-spurt, so his legs didn’t touch the floor. The kid in front of him was skinny, messy and all together looked miserable.

“So…” Luke started and looked around for help, then something came to his mind. “Lightsaber?”

“Yes!” Han’s eyes sparkled again and Luke unclipped his saber from his belt.

At the hiss of the weapon, Han’s eyes grew impossible large. Luke moved it around, showed a kid few moves, some of them made Han giggle, which was the right kind of encouragement.

“Can I try?” the kid asked.

“If you promise me you won’t cut off your own or my limbs.” Luke said with a raised eyebrow,

“Deal!” Han cried happily.

Luke handed over the weapon, making sure that it was pointing away from both of them. Han took it carefully and held it in both hands.

“Push that button on the side.” Luke instructed.

The saber came to life again. “Wow!” Han breathed. “This is amazing.”

With Luke guidance Han moved the blade around, making neat swings with it. They played around for probably an hour, till the fun was interrupted by a loud noise that was coming from Han’s stomach. The kid dropped the saber in surprise, which inactivated as soon as it touched the floor.

“Sorry.” Han muttered with a red face.

“Don’t apologize.” Luke said and he picked up the weapon. “I forgot about food.”

He glanced out of the window. It was dark outside, but when he was wandering around he had seen several places which stayed open all night. Alone he could avoid the trouble-makers.

“Okay, listen.” he turned to Han. “I’ll run out and get us some food. But I need you to stay here. I’ll be quick, okay?”

Han hesitated for a moment, then nodded jerkily. “Okay, I guess.”

“Super! What’d you like?” Luke asked. He checked his belt, threw few things onto the table, then reclipped the saber onto it. He noticed the quiet too. Looking up he met with Han’s stunned face. The kid wasn’t even blinking.

“Me?” the kid asked.

“Yes, you.” Luke nodded calmly.

“I can choose?”

“Yes.”

Han’s eyes flew from side to side as he thought hard. Then suddenly his shoulders slumped and he stared at the ground. “I don’t know what to ask for.” he mumbled.

That didn’t even surprised Luke, who had a pretty good idea what was going on. He tried repressing his anger, but he was failing miserably by the look of it. His things on the table were shaking. Luckily, Han didn’t notice. He took a calming breath and smiled his best farmboyish smile.

“In that case I’ll bring you something I’m sure you’ll like, okay?”

“Okay.” Han replied slowly with owlish eyes.

Luke smiled again and headed for the door.

“I’ll be back soon!” with that he was outside.

At least with that alone time he’d have a chance to rethink what had been revealed to him.

***

Han stayed in the apartment alone. He tried to sit still and wait, but he had never been good at that and soon found himself exploring the apartment. It was small, tidy. Like something he would expect from a Jedi. However, he found stuff that was sure didn’t belong to Luke. But the man hadn’t mentioned anyone else. He decided to abandon that mystery. His head was spinning enough already.

He sat on a chair and play with the things Luke had left there. With the Jedi’s overwhelming presence gone, the weight of the situation was catching up with him. He was in Kor Vella, but didn’t remember getting here. The last thing he remembered was Dewlanna’s stern voice sending him to sleep, then his first is the strange woman and the Jedi. He pushed this problem away too.

So, Luke had found him and took him under his wings. This was nice. Luke was nice. Calm and caring and strange somehow. But it was a good strange, he decided. It’d be nice living with Luke. He smiled. Maybe, if he acts well, Luke’d adopt him?

Then something flashed through his mind. After he had seen that Jedi, he had asked Shrike’s friends of the Jedi. They had said that the Jedi weren’t allowed to have families. He stared down at the table. That was bad. Luke can’t adopt him. Than what would happen? When people can’t take care of a child, they give them to orphanages. Orphanages are horrible places, according to Shrike.

His hands moved again, fidgeting with the things on the table. His mind was racing too. One thing was sure, that he couldn’t stay with Luke. So, he had to live now. Before it hurts even more. One of the tiny boxes opened in his hands and he stared.

Credits. So many credits.

He gaped at the tiny chips. With this amount… Shrike would be so proud! Wait! He straightened. Was he trying to steal from a Jedi??? But what could he do? He couldn’t stay with Luke and Shrike would be mad for being so late. However, if he takes this with him, Shrike would be happy and wouldn’t beat him this time!

Or he could run away!

He started counting the chips. With this amount, he could get on a ship and get away from this hellish planet! He could buy his own ship and be his own man finally!

But this was Luke’s money. Luke’s, who offered to buy him what _he_ wanted. No one had done that before. Right, Dewlanna was the cook on the Trader’s Luck, but she could only cook what Shrike wanted. Never what Han.

Maybe he could pay him back? Yes! He smiled. He’ll be his own man and when he gets enough money, he’ll pay back Luke. Luke was kind! He’d be happy for him!

His plan was forming. He hid the money in his clothing and searched for a way out. Of course, Luke had locked the door. But wait, the window! It looked old and weak. He tried its lock and tadaam! It gave.

He slipped out of the apartment.

***

Of course, Han’s favorite hotcakes were the hardest thing to find in that force-forsaken city. Luke fumed. That and the restlessness that was forming behind his sternum didn’t help his mood. The wind was picking up and he crossed his arms with a shudder. Suddenly a flash of light ran across the sky.

He blinked up with surprise. Than the thunder rolled.

Oh, the Force warned him off storms as it had done with sandstorms.

Good to know…

He had to hurry the hells up.

***

He had miscalculated. Badly. Han thought nervously. This Kor Vella was different. More damaged and wild than the one he had remembered. But how could it be? He had been there probably no more than three months ago. Than why was it so different?      

He heard the roar of a thunder and suddenly, rain began to fall.

This was bad. Very bad. He didn’t know where he was or where he could hide. It was so confusing and, he had to admit, frightening.

He should have stayed with Luke.

Too late now…

It wasn’t even rain, it was a city sized waterfall, he grumbled angrily as he tried to find cover.

Of course, he didn’t watch where he was going and slammed against someone.

He fell back onto his bottom. He squeezed his eyes shut. He prayed for Luke. Or Dewlanna. Even Shrike would be okay.

“What do we have here?”

It was not any of the three…

He looked up and through the heavy curtain of rain, he saw a man. Human. Large. Smiling with too many teeth.

He was in trouble.

He tried to retreat, but his back collided with someone else.

“Seems like the water washed out a little rat!” the one behind him laughed.

Three other voice joined in, mocking him, laughing at him. Five. He was surrounded by five very large men.

He screwed up really badly.

“Oh, I have so many buyers, who’d pay the right amount of credits for this rat!” the first one laughed.

Slavers? No! NO! Just not slavers! He felt like crying.

“Or you could just go away and act like this encounter never happened.”

This voice was familiar! He turned with the five thugs. Luke stood there, smiling, totally drenched, nonthreatening.

“Who the kriffing hell are you?” the leader thug asked.

Luke ignored him and pointed at Han. “That little one belongs to me. Thank you for finding him. Goodbye!” he said cheerfully.

Han gaped at him. Was he insane? There were five of those muscle-brains and only two of them!

“This rat is mine now!” the chief muscle-brain spat. “Get lost or I’ll step into your mouth!”

Luke’s face changed. Suddenly, everything stilled. Han would have sworn that the rain drops stopped midair.

“That’s very bad news.” Luke spoke coldly. “I’m only capable trying negotiation once.”

Suddenly he activated his lightsaber and everything moved again. Lighting flashed through the sky, then thunder roared. The rain fell even heavier and the wind shook the buildings around them. It seemed like the storm obeyed to Luke’s fury and raged with him. He remembered what the strange woman had said to the Jedi. Force of nature. He understood now!

Luke leaped forward, the green blade flashing. The thugs froze in the middle of pulling their blasters free. Someone screamed ‘Jedi’. It was over in a second. The five bodies fell to the ground and the rain lessened a bit.

“Are they dead?” Han asked with a tiny voice.

The green blade disappeared and something was wrapped around him. Luke’s jacket.

“I wish, but no. But they won’t go anywhere till the police comes to collect them. Now, come!” Luke grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. The Jedi took off running and he didn’t have a choice, but follow.

It turned out he hadn’t wandered that far away from the apartment as he thought. He was barely panting when they arrived. Luke pinched his shirt with two of his fingers and he grimaced.

“Soaked.” he walked to the table and checked something. “But the food is still warm!” he said cheerfully.

“Get out of those clothes. I’ll give you something to change into, then we eat! I’m starving!”

Han didn’t move. He felt horrible. His eyes found the floor.

“You should kick me out.” he said quietly.

Luke turned towards him. Han felt those intense blue eyes on him. “Sorry?”

“You should kick me out! I stole from you! I ran away! You shouldn’t have saved me! Why did you?” he was shouting by the end.

“You didn’t steal, you borrowed.” Luke corrected him.

“What?” Han blinked.

“You didn’t steal. You were going to pay me back. You borrowed.” Luke explained patiently.

“I don’t understand you. Why do you do this?” Han stammered.

“Because I care about you.” Luke said like it was the most natural thing in the word. “Like friends.”

“Friends make you weak.” Han replied automatically. “Shrike said so.”

Luke frowned. “Can you give me a detailed description of this Shrike? Just so I’ll know who to kill?” he muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing!” Luke replied quickly. “Han, listen. Shrike was wrong, okay? Friends makes you stronger. They fight through a blizzard to save you and you kill crimelords for them. You help each other, therefore you both win. Do you understand?”

“I…” Han hesitated. “I think I do.” He shifted again, a frown appearing on his young face. “Are friends like family?”

That surprised Luke, but a smile quickly found its place on his face. “Yes. Friends are like family.”

Han ducked his head shyly and looked up at the adult from under his dark bangs.

“Can I be your friend?” he asked with a tiny voice.

Luke beamed proudly. “Of course, you can!”

He held out a hand to the child, who took it eagerly. Suddenly, the room was filled with light. Old Karishma’s voice reached their ears.

Lesson learned.

The light disappeared and the two occupants of the room stared at each other. A shocked and fully adult Han and a stunned Luke.

“Whaaaaat?”                     


	13. Locked In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and his troops walk into a trap, while securing the Imperial palace. He needs Han to save him from his prison before it's too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only good thing about getting a fever, that I could take a day off and write this. Also, fever means that it might have some errors here and there.   
> I'm afraid I'll be slowed down in my writing in the upcoming three weeks, but I don't plan to stop any time soon. This is my therapy after all!   
> In short, enjoy!

He had to admit, that the Emperor’s architects had done an impressive job on that building. The Imperial Palace was a hell of a maze.  He stifled a groan as he stopped in front of another door. However, one of his companion didn’t.

“Come on, man!” it came from behind him.

“It’s okay, Aaron!” Luke smiled, but even he knew it looked strained. “This must be one of the last ones.”

He quickly ran his eyes over the group of man that had been following him since they started this mission. A month ago, when the battle of Coruscant had come to an end, General Cracken had asked him to lead a group into the Imperial Palace and secure the place. He asked for volunteers and he had been shocked by the number of the troops, who wanted to follow him into a potentially very dangerous place. According to Leia, his decision to give up his title of commander and receiving the one of a Jedi knight had helped the moral of the Alliance a great time. According to Han, people just liked him in general.

Doesn’t matter, because after a month of defusing bombs, outsmarting traps, fighting off few hiding imperial troops had destroyed even his enthusiasm.

And it was still not over.

“Okay,” he sighed. “Step back, I’ll open it. Stay sharp, though! We have to be prepared for another trap!” he warned.

A soft murmur ran through the group and he felt them getting ready. He turned back to the door and smiled. He hadn’t lost a single troop since he had stepped into this force forsaken place and he was dead set on keeping it that way. He stepped to the control panel and examined its mechanism. It took him embarrassingly long to figure out that one, but he managed.

Gods he was tired.

“Ready! It’s opening!” he warned.

He saw in his peripheral vision as Aaron raised his rifle. The Force told him the others followed in suit. He flicked the last switch and after a shudder, the door opened slowly.

He waited for it to open fully. He tried to sense something, but to his surprise, the Force didn’t give him anything. The constant pressure on his sternum, which had been there during the whole mission was gone too. He sensed nothing good, nothing wrong.

He didn’t like this.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Easy!” he called back.

Aaron, his second on this mission, waved at the others to stay back a little and followed him inside.

The room they stepped into wasn’t really a room, rather a hall. There were two rows of chairs each side of the room and a long red carped led to the opposite end. There, the wall wasn’t straight, it formed a half-circle. However, other than the chairs, the carpet and the fancy looking chandelier, there was nothing in there.

“What the hells is this place?” Aaron asked. He turned around in a circle, the rifle still held ready to fire.

“No idea.” Luke replied. A frown found its place on his face. The Force was still quiet and it bothered him more than his average bad feelings.

“Can we come in?” One of the troops outside asked.

“No!” Luke replied quickly. “I don’t like this place.” he said quietly to Aaron.

“It was built by the Emperor…” the older man mumbled.

They inched inside slowly. Step by step they crossed the hall. They kept their full attention on their surroundings, but as they reached the opposite wall, they noted that no trap had been found.

“Maybe it’s just an old forgotten room?” Aaron offered.

Luke was about to open his mouth to shot back a reply, when he noticed something. Cold air’s touch raised the hair on the back of his neck. He turned around slowly, squinting at the wall. It was not even a breeze. It was like a gentle breath of a person standing behind you. Only, there was no one else in the room other than Aaron and him. He raised a hand to halt Aaron’s question. Luke pulled off the glove from his right hand and raised it. The sensors in the prosthetic were even more sensitive than his original organic ones. He asked the droid, which had dealt with the settings to adjust it that way. He had been going against Jabba, he had needed every plus help. It came handy this time too. He had found the source of the tiny breeze in the middle of the bent wall. At least the place where the source should have been, because there was no hole on the wall, but the breeze did come from there.

“What in the…” he started, then trailed off, when the Force finally warned him.

Too late…

Something burst out of the wall and knocked him to the ground. He heard Aaron’s gasp, then the sound of a falling body. He got to his feet as fast as he could, which was not very fast, because somehow every joint of his were aching and looked around. He watched in a stunned immobility as all of his men fell to the ground one by one. Aaron lay on the carpet in front of him, dark eyes staring at the ceiling unseeing.

He felt the cold air again, this time in the form of a raging wind, but as he snapped his head up, he couldn’t see anything approaching. Before he could react, something slammed against him again, but this time as he felt to the ground, his connection to the world collapsed too.

***

“I actually feel sorry for the kid…” Han mused as he sat in the briefing-room’s chair sprawled out.

Leia looked up from her datapad with a raised eyebrow. It was just the two of them in that room of the Alliance’s temporary base on Coruscant. The capital planet was more or less cleaned out and secured, only the Imperial Palace remaining as a dark spot in the city.

“And why is that?” she asked back.

“You know. He is restless!” Han waived away her forming protests. “His new Jediness doesn’t change a kriffing thing about this. He is physically unable to remain in one place for a prolonged period of time. And doesn’t matter how big it is, the Palace is still one place!”

“He is doing a fantastic job securing it!” Leia glared at her lover.

“Of course, he is, because he is also physically unable to disappoint anyone.” Han nodded. “That’s why I feel sorry for him!”

“You could have taken that job yourself.” Leia reminded him pointedly.

“Erm… No thanks. Luke is better at these stuffs!” he waved quickly.

“You incorrig…” she trailed off as her eyes grew wide. She starred ahead, her face turning chalk white. The datapad slipped out of her fingers and fell to the ground. Its screen cracked.

Han was in front of her in a heartbeat. “Leia? Leia, what’s wrong?”

He shook her not so gently. After few agonizingly long minutes, her gaze lifted and met his.

“I…I can’t…”

“Can’t what?” Han urged softly.

“Can’t sense Luke.”

***

Organizing a search party was not hard. All he had to say that Luke was in trouble and in the next moment he had a group of men following him around with Wedge and Chewie leading them. He had spotted several other Rogues among them too.

“Captain Solo! What’s going on?” General Cracken hurried towards them as he tried to memorize the finished part of the Palace’s blue prints, which were based on Luke’s weekly reports.

“I’m going into the Palace.” he said not even looking up.

“Why?” Cracken demanded.

“Luke is in trouble.” this time he lifted his gaze. “Which way did they go?”

“How do you know that something went wrong?” the General asked dubiously. “Something in that building interferes with the comms. You can’t possibly kno---“

“He is in trouble!” Han hissed. “We are going in!”

Cracken blinked at him, then his gaze flickered to the ground. When he next spoke, his voice had a softer tone.

“My nephew, Aaron is in there too.”

He didn’t have to say anything else, Han was already nodding.

“On it!”                

 ***

They cleared one room after another. According to Luke reports, they had been nearing the south corner of the building complex, so, that was where they were heading. Han had kept his security goggles on, which had a heat detector and night vision settings too. Cracken had forced them into following protocol, so they each had a breath mask on.

“This place gives me the creeps.” Wedge huffed into his mask.

“Well, the missing twenty people may have something to do with this.” Rys Melcon commented. "Or the previous owner, you know, the Emperor."

“Quiet!” Han growled. “I see something.”

They were inching forward in a long, narrow corridor, Han taking the lead. He spotted something in front of him, which as he slowly neared it turned out to be the slumped figure of an alliance troop. He raised his head and spotted several more.

“Antilles?” he asked. His throat felt impossibly tight.

“The scanner doesn’t show any sign of life.” Wedge’s voice didn’t sound quite right either.

Han took a deep breath. “Secure the place and check everyone. But follow security protocol!” he ordered.

“Luke?” Chewie growled the question.

“On it!” Han murmured.

He walked past the bodies that were lined up at his feet and framed the open door in front of him. He stepped through the door, blaster held ready. He had to fight down the urge to just run to the two figures that lay on the ground at the opposite end of the huge room. He recognized one of them even from here. He neared them painfully slowly with Chewie following closely behind, all the while making sure that they did not activate any traps. However, he couldn’t help the last two steps and rushed to his friend’s side and crouched down next to him. The confirmation of his goggles wasn’t enough. He pulled off his glove and placed two fingers onto Luke’s carotid.

“He is alive.” he whispered overwhelmed by relief. “Luke is alive!”

***

They had to wait for the biohazard unit to arrive, despite the fact that their scanners didn’t show any sign of bioweapon remnants. This also meant that they couldn’t get Luke help, till it was declared safe. He stayed by his side and rechecked his vitals every minute. He had placed his spare breath mask onto the young Jedi’s face just to be sure. However, Luke didn’t show any sign of waking up.

It took an hour for the biohazard unit to fully secure the place and give a permission to transport Luke. On their way out, Han couldn’t meet General Cracken’s eyes. He had been the one, who had declared Commander Aaron Cracken dead.

Luke had been transported to Coruscant’s central medical center, which miraculously survived the battle of the planet. Doctor Norella Paklar and her army of med-droids snatched the young Jedi away and politely, but firmly instructed him to wait outside. During the transport Leia had somehow appeared by his side looking more shaken than ever.

“What’s going on?” she asked, when there were only the two of them again. “Everyone else is dead and… I still can’t sense him.”

“Don’t know yet, but we will find out. I promise!” he vowed.

Doctor Paklar came back to them three hours later and she didn’t have good news.

“The brain scans don’t show any structural damage. However, the EEG scans doesn’t show cortical activity.” she said. “His coma scale score is still no more than three. Your brother though is a special case, so we give him some time.”

“What does this even mean?” Leia asked back.

“We have to wait and see.” was Paklar’s only answer.

Wait and see must be the most hated phrase, when someone’s life is on the line. What gave them hope though was the fact that Luke’s breathing didn’t need assisting. The med-droids had put a central venosus catheter into his neck. For medication and parental feeding. Han had hated it since the first moment he had seen it. It looked unnatural and uncomfortable.

Two days went by and nothing changed. To their questions Paklar shrugged helplessly. She couldn’t do anything without any information to work with.

On the third day, a man had come to them. To Leia to be precise. He was Chaaden Medkin, a neuroscientist. He told them that he had had a research center, which the Imperials had forced him to close on the other side of the planet. He offered his help, he offered them hope. Leia had agreed in a heartbeat and signed the contract. They transferred Luke, but Leia and Han only stayed with him for the first day. Medkin said that any additional information would help speeding up the process and Han and Leia were dead set on finding those.

When the sun set, they left.

***

Luke’s senses took their sweet time coming back. He hadn’t even noticed that something was wrong till his hearing got back to normal. Then though… When noises reached his ears, he tried to react to them, only he couldn’t. His hands didn’t move. He couldn’t make any noise. Not even his eyelids moved, despite the fact that he tried really-really hard. There was something wrong with his connection to the Force too. He hadn’t panicked till he tried to change the rhythm of his breathing. When he couldn’t accomplish even that, he did panic. He automatically reached out for Leia, just to slam into a very thick wall. That lead to trying using it anyway, but nothing worked. The only thing he managed to do was sensing some living things nearby. Nothing else.

He panicked so badly, that the monitor that had been connected to his chest went crazy.

A something lifeless, a droid maybe rolled into the room and something had been injected into the iv line in his arm. He felt the cold liquid in his vein and it was the most awful feeling ever. A mist enveloped his brain and he absent mindidly noted that the beating of his heart slowed down. Reality seemed way too scary, so he escaped into the darkness again.

***

There was a routine he noted, when he finally managed to stay awake without slipping into another panic-attack. His body was still refusing his commands and his connection to the Force was still barely existing. Someone came in and gave him some kind of drug (medicine?) every morning and evening, then checked the probes that was placed on his forehead and temples. Other than that, there was no human contact. Droids tended to his needs, which he was … not thinking about.

The worst thing was that Leia and Han didn’t show up.   

Two days passed like this. Things were bad, but at least he thought that he was being monitored by medical personnel and they were trying to cure him. He found out the worst possible way that it was not the case.

On the third morning, the person with the drug was late a little. He noted it with a tiny frustration, but let it go. He got back to his task, the one he occupied himself with every moment he spent awake, trying to move a muscle in his body. And to his ultimate surprise, he managed.

His mechanical hand moved.

His fingers curled and he made a fist. He was overjoyed.

Few minutes later the person arrived and he proudly demonstrated his accomplishment. He expected a happy exclamation.

It was not what he got.

The person, a man by the sound of it, took a sharp breath.

“No, you don’t!” he hissed and pushed the needle into his iv line. As the drug got into his vein, his neurons lost the connection with his mechanical muscles and the hand stopped working again.

“That’s better!” he heard the grin and the mocking tone. “Bad Jedi!”

Luke lay there, unable to move and his mind racing. He didn’t want to, but he slowly understood. He was trapped in his body and it was intentional.

He panicked again.

***

Han held a large cup of caf in his hand as he strode trough the Alliance’s current main base on Coruscant. He hadn’t had a full night of sleep during the last six days. Since the incident in the Imperial Palace. He had spent every possible moment searching for an answer, just like most of the Alliance’s personnel.

After six days, he was still clueless.

He swallowed down the bitter liquid in few large gulps and put the cup onto the nearest window sill, then pushed the buzzer on the door in front of him. It opened swiftly. He stepped inside and stopped in front of the desk. General Cracken sat on the other side.

“Captain Solo. Anything?” the man asked. He looked older than ever.

“Nothing.” Han replied with a grimace. “Even the newest scanners came up with nothing.”

“Figures.” Airen sighed. He held up the datapad he had been reading, when Solo had arrived. “These are Aaron’s autopsy records.”

Han remained silent. He had already said every word that had been expected. Even more wouldn’t help. No word can bring back the dead.

“They found nothing.” Airen spoke. “One moment he was alive and in the next, he is dead. No structural damage. His body just stopped working. And do you know what’s the worst?”

Han waited.

“I have seen this before.” Cracken finished and slowly rose to his feet.

“What? Where?” Han asked immediately.

“That’s the thing.” Airen rubbed his face. “I don’t know. Can you imagine that? My nephew dies and I can’t remember…”

“General. You need to rest.” Han said slowly. The man was exhausted and grieving. Very bad combination.

“Skywalker is in coma and you ask me to rest? You ask me to rest, when I might know the cure?” Cracken shot back with a raised eyebrow, then he suddenly deflated, as Han didn’t rise to the bait.

“I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted.” Han nodded. “And that’s why I ask you to rest. If the answer is in your head, than I need you to find it!”

Cracken nodded with a sigh. “Will do. How is Skywalker by the way? Any change?”

That was what Han had avoided thinking about all day.

“Nothing. But according to Doctor Medkin, these things take time. We are waiting.”

“Dr. Medkin?” Cracken frowned. “That name sounds familiar.”

“He is a neuroscientist and he is not ready to give up on Luke.  That’s enough for me.” Han shrugged.

“When was the last time you visited him?” Cracken asked suddenly.

That surprised Han. He thought back with a frown. “Two or three days? Maybe.”

“Visit him. That’s an order.” Airen said sternly. “Take the Princess with you too. The three of you. You need to be close to each other. Don’t wait till it’s too late!”

“I… I got it.” Han gave the man a half-hearted grin.

“One more thing, Captain.” Airen sat back into his chair, then looked into the former smuggler’s eyes. “Can you watch out for Pash? He and Aaron had been close.”

“I will.” Han nodded. “General!”

Cracken nodded at him and he left the office. He strode through the corridors searching for another office. The General’s words had struck a chord with him. Every time, when Luke had managed to land himself in the med-bay, Leia and he usually had stayed with him as much as possible. This time, though. They hadn’t even visited. He shook his head. This needed to change.

He pushed another buzzer, then stepped into another office. The mood in there was very similar to the one in the General’s.

“Leia.” he said gently.

The woman blinked up at him. “Did you find something?” she asked.

“No. But come on. Let’s visit Luke.” he said.

He didn’t get the reaction he hoped for. Leia ducked her head. her fingers whitened around her datapad.

“I can’t right now.” she replied not looking up. “Have to… finish this.”

“What exactly?” Han asked back immediately. She didn’t reply immediately and he knew what was going on.

“Leia. Look at me.”

She slowly complied.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“It’s… hard.” she said uncharacteristically hesitant. “It’s like he is not even Luke. Luke should be full of energy, vibrating with life. I can’t look at that shell and… I can’t associate that state with Luke.”

“Leia, that shell is Luke!” he didn’t want to sound that harsh, but he had to push his point through. “The Kid! Your brother! We are all he has. Right now, it doesn’t matter how hard this is for us. All that matters is him. Just like every other time.”

“Protecting him was the only thing we agreed on.” Leia said with a half-smile. “We are doing a horrible job of it.” she added.

“Come on! Let’s visit him!” he smiled.

***

A new player joined the game, Luke thought bitterly as a new person, another man, stepped into his room.

“How is our patient?” the newcomer asked.

“As expected.” The asshole nurse, as Luke called him, he wasn’t given real names after all, replied.

The newcomer hummed and he walked closer.

“Is he up to our little experiment?”

“He is young, healthy.” the nurse replied. “I need to give him the double dose every day.”

“What an amazing gift the Emperor gave us.” the newcomer said. Luke didn’t like his voice. It reminded him… of the Emperor. “Who would have thought that he had one last Drasach?”

Drasach? What the hells is a Drasach?

“It’s a pity it disappeared so soon.” the nurse added.

“Do not pity it.” The newcomer was way too close. Bony fingers were wrapped around Luke’s chin. “After all, we are going to have so much fun together!”

Luke would have loved to growl at the man, Chewie style, but of course his vocal cords also refused to obey his commands.

The door to his room (cell?) opened and a droid rolled in.

“Master Medkin. Princess Organa and Captain Solo is here.” it reported.

“A surprise visit?” the newcomer (Medkin?) hissed. First the fingers tightened painfully on Luke’s face, then suddenly the pressure was gone. “Hamarl, check everything! I’ll stall them a bit.”

Medkin stormed out of the room, while Hamarl moved around frantically. He was spitting curses at the helpless Jedi non-stop. However, in no more than ten standard minutes, Luke heard the sweetest sound ever. His sister’s voice.

“Any change?” she was asking.

“I’m sorry, but no. However, Your Highness, please do not give up hope yet.” Medkin’s voice sounded disturbingly … nice? Luke hated it. “We still have ideas.”

Oh, Luke was sure about that.

“But we’ll need you to sign a few forms.” the man added.

Luke felt his insides grow cold. If Leia signed the forms, then whatever things Medkin had in mind would be legal and …

_No! No! No!_

“Of cou---“ Leia started, but Han, who had been silent till that moment cut her off.

“Can you tell us more about these ideas?” he asked.

Medkin hesitated for a second. “What I can tell you will probably sound like jargon.” he said carefully. “Listen, it may look a bit invasive and too much, but it can truly help. All I want is what best for your brother!”

He was aiming his lies at Leia and it pissed Luke off even more, than the mocking the Emperor had aimed at him back then. Luke attacked the mental wall between him and Leia with full force again.

_Don’t believe him! Please! Don’t believe him!_

“We are not signing anything.” Han spoke again out of nowhere. “We need… time. Yes, time.”

“Han?” Leia sounded confused.

She wasn’t the only one. Luke turned his attention to his friend. Could it be that somehow he reached Han? He tried to probe Han’s mind gently, but it required a great amount of energy from him and he didn’t want to alert his captors either. So, he just allowed his true feelings to pour out of him.

_Han? Take me home, please! Get me out of here!_

“Time is what we do not have.” Medkin spoke again. “These procedures work best if we do them as soon as possible.”

“No. We are taking Luke home!” Han all but stomped.

“Han?!” Leia hissed.

“We are not signing everything! We are taking Luke home!” Han repeated himself with an end of the argument tone.

“If you do this, than everything we have achieved so far would be lost! You could be signing his death sentence!” Medkin argued back.

“Enough!” Leia cried loudly. “Enough! We are going home now, talk about this, then tomorrow we decide. I don’t think that few hours are too much!”

“Of course, Your Highness.” Medkin forced out.

Leia approached Luke’s bed and soon she leaned over him. Her favorite perfume was the most calming thing he had ever smelled. She kissed his forehead.

“Get well soon, okay?” she asked gently. Then she was gone, but for a few seconds Han took her place. Calloused fingers ran through his messy locks.

“Hold on, Kid!”

Luke felt nearly unbearable abandonment, when the couple left. However, Han’s argument might have given him some hope.

Medkin and Hamarl stayed of course…

“Doc? Do you think he suspects something?” the later asked after a while.

Medkin stayed quiet for a few moments, probably thinking.

“Unlikely. However, let’s just speed things up. Star the process and if he survives the first phase, than we leave Coruscant first thing in the morning! And double the dose!”

“But---“ Hamarl tried, but the doc cut him off.

“I do not stutter. Double the dose!”

Well, sith! This didn’t sound good…

***

Han all but collapsed into the Falcon pilot’s chair. He stared at the city through the view port. From this distance, he still could see the research center, where Luke was treated. Or was he? Han was so confused. When he stepped into the room, he had been nearly overwhelmed by those negative feelings that had assaulted him. For a few minutes he would have sworn they had come from Luke.

It had been anger, sadness, hopelessness and fear. He hated the idea of Luke being scared. Luke had never been scared.   

Or was it Han? That would be the logical answer, after all. He was no Force-sensitive. Maybe, he had been just so taken aback by the sight of Luke looking so sick and vulnerable. Maybe he just wanted Luke to get better so badly that he imagined him trying to contact him?

He moved and started the Falcon’s engine.

“What was that inside?” Leia asked as she slipped into the cockpit few seconds later.

“I don’t know.” he replied.

As the Falcon rose, he shot one last look at the research center. Leia followed his gaze.

“Please, tell me!” she pleaded quietly. There was no real temper behind her words. He decided to go with the truth.

“It felt like he asked me to get him out of there.”

The Falcon turned around and they sped towards their destination.

“Don’t you think that maybe if he tried to contact someone, it would have been me?” she asked back.

“I don’t know. Maybe he can’t for some reason.” he shrugged. “I truly don’t know.”

“Don’t push me away, Han!” She said more forcefully. “We need to talk!”

“Talking won’t help him.” Han growled.  They were already nearing the Alliance’s base. It was amazing how fast they could travel with a spaceship. He started the landing maneuver.

“It won’t, but the right procedure might.” Leia argued.

The landing ended up being a bit bumpy. So not like him. However, it was back again. The pressure he had felt on his sternum in Luke’s room was back. Awaken by her words.

“I’m not signing anything.” he said stubbornly.

“I think this is something I should be deciding.” Leia rose to her feet.

“I’m his next of kin too!” Han shot back.

“That was before…”

“Before you found out he is your brother?” Han asked with a raised eyebrow. “Well, it doesn’t matter. My name is still in those files, so you need me too.”

“Han!” she sounded so desperate, that he took a mental step back. Maybe he was getting out of line.

“All I’m asking for is a research. Dig deep.” he said.

“We have already…”

“Not we.” he shook his head. “Someone. This time do it yourself. Dig as deep as you can. If you don’t find anything. Than I’ll sign the forms. Okay?”

He left her, not waiting for an answer. The pressure was getting worse. He needed to do something and he knew where he should start. He strode through the docking bay, towards the Rogues place. He walked past several X-wings. He would recognize the one he was searching for anywhere. There. He neared the fighter and found the thing he was searching for.

“Artoo? I need you.”

***

They took him to another room. A long corridor. Two floors down with the elevator. Another long corridor. Turn left. Left again. On the right. They arrived. Hands went under his knees and arms and he was placed onto another hard surface. They rearranged his head and limbs. They wrapped something around his ankles, wrists, waist and neck. Were these straps? Hello! He can’t move! What would he do? Run away?

They cut open his shirt or whatever cloth had been covering his chest. He felt the cold touch of the scissors on his skin. Even more electrodes had been placed on his chest and head.

This was so not looking good.

***

Leia sat down in front of a communication tower. The guard had raised an eyebrow at her, but one stern look sent him running away. Despite her situation she allowed herself a smile with too many teeth. She still had it!

She started a search on Medkin’s name in the huge computer, then moved to log into her own very well encrypted account. She barely got the confirmation of her correct passwords, when the machine beeped loudly announcing a message. It was an urgent message from General Cracken. She opened it.

Medkin.

Drasach.

She jumped to her feet.

“Guard!” she screamed. The man from before, a very young one, stopped in front of her with wide eyes.

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“Get me Captain Solo! Now!”

“Yes, Ma’am!” he pulled his commlink out and spoke into it urgently. When the reply came he blinked at her with even wider eyes.

“They say he had left the base an hour ago.” he stammered.

Leia froze for a moment, then a smile formed on her lips. “Good. Get me a ship. And the Rogues!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

***

Han peeked around the corner of the dimly lit corridor. He couldn’t see anything threatening, so he motioned to Artoo. “Time for a tiny diversion!” he whispered.

The tiny droid rolled past him to the opposite wall and connected himself to the center’s main system.

Chewie growled behind him.

“I know, pal, way too many guard-droids for one tiny research center.” Han hummed in agreement.

It was true. They encountered so many guard-droids since they broke into the research center, that he nearly got jealous. Not even their main base was protected so well. He was thankful for Chewie’s presence, though. He was the best anti-droid fur ball he had ever seen.

Somewhere further away the alarm went off. Artoo whistled happily.

“Good job!” Han grinned. “Now we get the Prince in distress and we are out of here!”

He rushed after Artoo, who was surprisingly fast on his tiny wheels. He noted with annoyance, that the droid rolled past Luke’s room.

“In there, Artoo!” he huffed.

The droid ignored him. A huge paw fell onto his shoulder and he was pushed forward too, after Artoo.

“He is not here.” Chewie growled.

“What?”

“They moved him!”

“Kriffing hells!” Han hissed and rushed after the droid.

Artoo rolled to the end of the corridor and connected himself to the system again. In the next moment, the elevator arrived with a ding.

“You are kidding, right?” Han huffed, but got in after the droid. They went down to floors.

“And now wh---“ he started to ask as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, but a loud scream cut him off. He was running before his brain fully registered, who the voice belonged to. He found the right door by following the voice.

Medkin didn’t even bothered by locking the door. Han slammed it open and his eyes found Luke immediately. The younger man’s whole body seemed to convulse and he strained against the straps that were holding him in place. The screaming had stopped probably because of the strap that was probably cutting of his airway. The man, who had introduced himself as Camjord Hamarl was towering over him, while Medkin stood behind a glass wall, eyes locked on the suffering figure.

They didn’t even notice his arrival.

“Amazing! I have never seen such a strong reaction before!” he heard Medkin’s voice coming through a speaker.

Then everything was filled by Chewie’s enraged, deafening roar. He pushed past Han and flew into the room. He threw himself onto Hamarl. Han jumped into action too and he was by Luke’s side in the next second. He ripped the electrodes out of the device next to them and the kid’s body went limp immediately. He searched for a pulse and sighed with relief, when he found it. It was erratic and fast, but it was there.

“Luke?” he tried to nudge the younger man.

 _A second!_ Han nearly jumped out of his skin. He was certain, that the kid’s lips didn’t move.

“Are you… speaking in my head?” Han asked uncertainly. The was a moment of silence and he nearly convinced himself that he had imagined it.

_Yep. Darn it. Still can’t move._

Han blinked, then let it go. It was Luke after all. He was just glad that somehow, he could communicate with the kid again.

“Chewie!” Han called and started unstrapping Luke. “We are getting you out of here.” He looked up at the glass wall. Of course, Medkin wasn’t there anymore. “We have to hurry.”

The wookiee gently took Luke into his arms. Han ignored the blood on the fur. He led their little group out of the room. They barely took few steps on the long corridor, when another army of guard-droids attacked them. Han was almost happy for them. He was seeing red and destroying droids seemed like a very good idea. 

“Artoo! Alternate route!” he shouted as he fired back with his blaster. The droid did what it was told by beeping loudly and rolling away at full speed. Artoo found a set of stairs and started flying by using his tiny rocket boosters. Han covered their backs as they hurried upwards. He heard something resembling a scream come from Artoo and he spun around. The droid fell to the ground and he came face to face with three more guard droids. Chewie growled threateningly and curled around the Jedi in his arms. However, the droids rose in the air and slowly crunched up.

 _Yes! It worked!_ Han heard in his head. Luke sounded tired. Exhausted even.

“Easy, Luke!” he warned.

Artoo beeped and turned its dome around. He whistled and rolled forward at full speed again. 

They blinked first after him, then continued their rushed escape as another blaster bolt slammed into the wall next to Han’s ear. Somehow, they managed to burst out of the building, not even far from the Falcon. However, hordes of guard-droids were swarming out of the building behind them.

“Kill them and get me the Jedi!” Han heard Medkin’s scream from somewhere above them.

The Falcon seemed impossible far away.

Then he spotted something. A tiny light above his ship. It grew bigger and bigger, till it morphed into a ship. A troop carrier! One of the Alliance’s troop carriers! It landed a hundred meters away from them. Troops jumped out of it and with loud shouts went against the droids. Han and Chewie broke into a mad dash and reached the Falcon. During his flight he spotted Wes, Wedge, Hobbie and even General Cracken. The older man didn’t show his age. The fire in his eyes scared Han a little too.

Then he saw his lover.

Leia stood on the ramp of the troop carrier, taller than what her tiny frame should allow. Their gaze met. She raised her eyes at the sky then back at him. He nodded at her. He understood the message. He rushed up on the ramp of the Falcon.

“Come on Chewie! We are getting Luke out of here!” He shouted.

The wookiee placed the young Jedi gently onto the floor of the ship. He looked at Han for a second, then with a terrifying roar, he threw himself off the Falcon and into the fray.

Han didn’t think about it, just closed the ramp of the Falcon, then reached under Luke’s armpits and dragged him to their med-table. He strapped down the kid, then hurried to the cockpit. He raised the Falcon up and piloted it out of the atmosphere. Once in the safety of the nothingness, he turned off the engine and allowed the ship to passively orbit around the planet.

It seemed like running, but in reality, it was putting Luke’s safety above everything else. He was more than sure that Leia and their friends would capture Medkin, but that was not the end of the story. Medkin somehow got close to them and probably had a part in the death of nineteen troops. One of them the close relative of a high-ranking Alliance officer.

He checked on Luke. His scanners showed slow heartbeat and even breathing. There was no voice in his head. He dared to assume that the kid had fallen asleep somewhere between their mad escape and now.

He sat down next to the kid and waited. He held his commlink in his hand.

He must have fallen asleep too, because he woke to Luke’s voice.

_Darn it. My eyes hurt._

“Are you still speaking in my head?” Han groaned and stood. He met with Luke’s impossibly blue eyes. Eyes that were looking at him through a very narrow gap between his eyelids. Han reached to the control panel and dimmed the lights.

“Better?”

 _Yep._ It sounded like a sigh _. Status report. Things that work: my prosthetic hand and eyes. Not working: everything else_.

“Neat.” Han grinned. “At least it’s getting better.”

 _Their kriffing drug is still in my system. I would be getting better much faster otherwise_. Luke fumed.

“Drug?”

 _Later_. _Leia?_

“Kicking Medkin’s ass.” Han declared proudly. “Now rest. You need it.”

 _That’s all I can do!_ Luke growled mentally.

“You are still not doing it!”

***

They were allowed back onto the planet eight hours later. Leia waited for them with Chewei and 2-1B.

“No one is allowed near Luke!” she said sternly. Han agreed with her.

Luke got a room in the Alliance’s base. Leia and Han waited outside till the droid tended to the young Jedi. Leia explained to Han that Cracken remembered, why the incident was familiar to him. Drasachs despite the common beliefs weren’t sentient creatures, but energy fields that were created by a certain device. They appeared in the Clone Wars first as a weapons primary against the Jedi. Cracken once read a report on them. The name Medkin had been in that certain report too, he had been the inventor of those deadly creations. Leia’s troops captured the man, who was waiting for his trial on his numerous crimes in his temporary cell. His right-hand man, Hamarl had died in the attack, but no one questioned the how.

“You should clean yourself up.” Leia said in the end. “You smell.”

Han glanced at the door and she followed his gaze. “I’ll be here, just like Chewie.” she added.

***

When he got back again, he was allowed through the door. The head of the bed had been raised, so Luke could rest in a half-sitting position. He held a datapad in his prosthetic hand. He looked like hell. Only few days had passed since the incident, but he had lost so much weight, he had always been on the thin side, but this time he looked scrawny. He was also pale like snow and had livid circles under his eyes. However, he was awake and looked up, when Han entered.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Han asked.

“That’s still the only thing I’m capable of!” it sounded hoarse and painful, but Luke was finally talking.

“I decided it's safe to allow him to read the reports.” Leia announced from her chair next to the bed. There was another one, so Han quickly threw himself onto it.

“You are getting soft.” he grinned.

“She is not.” Luke huffed.

“Kid, please, this sounds really painful. You can speak mentally.” Han begged. Luke rolled his eyes dramatically. “Wait a minute!” Han sat up straighter. “How did you even manage that?”

“What?” Luke croaked.

“It does sound painful.” Han grimaced. “The mental communication.”

_Easy. The same way how I do with Leia. Only with you, I’m doing all the work. The Drasach somehow blocked me and Leia, but it allowed me to reach out for you._

“That and the drug that Medkin gave Luke blocked his connection to the Force, which made things even harder.” Leia added. When Han raised his eyebrow at her, she motioned her hand that was gripping Luke’s left hand.

“I help him broadcast. Less energy!” She explained.

Han shook his head in amusement.

“So how long till you get back on your feet?” he asked.

“Weeks!” Luke groaned dramatically. _Can you imagine that?_

“Weeks during which you can’t walk into trouble. Is this heaven?” Han grinned.

 _You seem to forget that usually trouble walks into me. And now I can't run away from it! So, actually it's few long weeks for you!_ Luke’s voice sing-songed in his head.

This time Han groaned loudly.


	14. Swimming Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han teaches Luke how to swim. They do it Skywalker-style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. This chapter really didn't want to be written. Once my computer deleted half of it. Even Han and Luke weren't cooperative. (I think they were jealous. My plot-bunny had a date with Antony DiNozzo, which was followed by a grumpy Han and Luke gave me the cold shoulder...) But I wrote this! I don't give up half-ways! Next one is my Jaws story. No rest till it's finished!

“Well, this went well.”

Han heard the laughter in Luke’s voice and he kinda wanted to throttle him for that. Nothing had gone well. Not his silent escape from the Rebellion. Not the cold shoulder he had planned for the Princess. Not his plan to pull his hypothetical wings away from the kid. Not his intention to say no to Rieekan and to this mission. Not this mission. Not his supposed easy landing on this gods forsaken planet.

In short nothing had gone well. Nope.

Who was to blame? Luke, of course! And Chewie. Okay, partly the ship they used to travel, because the Falcon had some tiny mechanical failures and hadn’t been trusted with this distance. But mostly Luke and Chewie. The pair of blue-eyed monsters in his life. Of course, Blue-eyed Monster Number One was currently still on Dandoran with the rest of the Rebellion playing around with his precious Falcon, while Blue-eyed Monster Number Two was looking at him with his trademark wide-eyed childish stare.

“Are you fuming?” Luke asked with a raised eyebrow. It reminded Han of the Princess, which only fueled his foul mood.

“You.” Han raised his finger in front of Luke’s face. “Shut up!”

“You are mad.” Luke nodded thoughtfully. “Why are you mad? Are you mad at me?”

“Just tell me, which part of shut up don’t ya understand?” Han hissed. He all but tore off the seat belts and he jumped to his feet. The only upside of their crash-landing was that none of them got hurt. With their average luck, this was a miracle.

“You are mad at me!” Luke followed him out of the wreckage. “Why? I can’t be possibly responsible for engine failure!”

The ship, another old freighter was truly doomed. Mostly because it had been torn into half. There wouldn’t be done any flying with this one. The sight stopped even Luke in his questioning. He whistled as he stood in front of the empty space where the engine should have been.

“Neat.”

Han scratched his face, but it didn’t help his frustration. It was time to switch to tactical.

“Activate the emergency beacon.” he huffed at the kid.

Luke blinked at him, then raised a tentative finger. “It’s next to you in that bag.” he pointed. “Aaaand…”

“What?” Han glared, but ripped the device out of the cheap carrier cloths. He pressed the right buttons and it lit up. 

“I’ve seen few buildings, when we were landing…”

Han’s head snapped up. The engine failure had forced them out of hyperspace and it had been only luck that had allowed them to land here. The Rebellion wouldn’t even know that something had happened to them till their estimated arrival time. Two more days.

“Which way?” he asked.

“That.” Luke pointed to his right. “It’s not very far. I could walk…”

“I walk and you stay here!” Han huffed. He grabbed few things up from the ground and shoved them into the bag he was still holding. He went inside the wreckage and did the same with some supplies. All the while Luke watched him move around with wide eyes.

“Why am I the one who is staying?” Luke asked when Han reappeared outside again. It was no question that one of them had to stay. The emergency beacon was on and who knew what they would find in those buildings.

“Because with your luck, something would eat you after the first few steps!” Han huffed.

“Aaaw! You do care!” Laughter bubbled out of Luke. After all, he had repeatedly demonstrated immunity to Han’s foul moods.

“Shut up!” Han growled and strode into the forest that surrounded the wreck.

“Take care!” Luke shouted after him.

***

Luke sat on a crate next to the wreck and battled his number one enemy. Boredom. He had already gone through the wreck and piled everything that could be still used some way or another neatly further away from the broken ship in case of an explosion. It was unlikely, because he had already investigated every tiny smoke he could spot and defused the boomish situations.

He was still bored.

He leaned back with a groan and stared at the forest. Han had been gone for what? A hour or two? His chrono had been damaged, so he had no clue. He absently rubbed his sternum. That darn pressure was frustrating.

His hand froze and his eyes grew wide.

Wait.

Pressure.

He sat up straight and closed his eyes. His force-sensitive abilities were still slightly more than none-existing, but this pressure had been with him even on Tatooine and he had learnt the meaning early in his childhood.

Danger.

He listened, but it was more feeling rather than sound that he sensed. It was like a tiny earthquake. And another. And another.

Something big was approaching.

Luke slipped off the crate and he pressed himself against the wreck.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

It came rhythmically.

On the other side of the broken ship something broke a tree or at least a big branch. That said something was breathing noisily and made a deep predatory growl. Luke slowly lowered himself to the ground and peeked under the wreck. He saw a pair of huge legs with long claws. He turned his head to the side and froze. There lay a broken part of the side of the ship, the metal shiny enough to reflect things like a mirror.  He saw the huge head move above the wreck. The creature was huge, the same size as the Krayt Dragon, only it stood on two legs and only used its long front legs to support itself as it sniffed the wreck.

The ship seemed to hold its attention.

For a second, his mind slipped back to his childhood on Tatooine. To that day with Windy, hiding away from that Krayt Dragon. He remembered the lack of fear and the overwhelming frustration with Windy’s loud crying. Just like that time, he felt annoyed now too. Why was the Universe dead-set on proving Han right in these situations?

Luke glanced at the forest. The trees stood close to each other. It would make the monster’s pursuit after him quite difficult. However, he still needed a head-start.

The lack of noise suddenly caught his attention. He slowly turned his head and stared into the golden eyes of the creature.

It had pushed his head through the gap between the two parts of the ship. That way, it had spotted Luke easily.

The two of them stared at each other for moment that seemed to stretch out infinitely.

“Hello, there.” Luke spoke softly, when the thing blinked. “Not food!” he tried to push the suggestion at the animal.

It probably didn’t work, because the creature pulled the skin back from its long and sharp teeth and growled menacingly in the back of its throat. Luke didn’t wait a second longer and shot out of his hiding place and ran for the forest. He heard a the sharp snap of jaws behind him, but he didn’t stop. The loud crash indicated that the thing had tried to push through the wreck after him, but failed. As he reached the trees, Luke dared a glance back to see the monster pull back angrily and move to step around the broken ship.

That was his head start.

He continued running.

***

Han mood had turned from bad to worse as he had fought his way through that gods forsaken forest. It was thick and dark and he was kinda sure that he was lost. At least he had spotted a fast-flowing river and because it was a well-known thing that civilization usually was built around water, he had decided to follow it.

However, proceeding hadn’t become easier that way either. The roots of the trees had broken through the rocky ground and had found their way into the river. That and the slippery rocks made it nearly impossible to walk. It took only one moment of inattention from Han to slip and he ended up on his stomach in the dirt.

“At least not the river.” Han mumbled to himself as he grasped for a tiny positivity in his awful situation.

He slowly rose to his feet, then froze.

In front of him the forest had an opening to the river. It hadn’t formed naturally. Something had created it. Something had probably used this path to come here to drink. And whatever this something was, it was huge!

Han crouched down and examined the ground. He nearly missed it because of the rocks, roots and gravels, but it was there. A huge foot print.  Han put his leg into the middle of it, then swallowed as the difference in size became obvious. This thing was at least as big as a rancor. Or bigger. He looked around nervously. The forest seemed peaceful, the chirping of birds indicated no predator in his close vicinity. However, the danger was real and the probability to find intact civilization shrunk significantly, despite the fact that he had no real evidence that this was a carnivore. He glanced back at the foot print. There... the third finger's print continued into a deep but thin hole. A claw. 

It was very likely a carnivore. 

The chances of getting eaten had grown significantly. 

He cursed and turned around, hurrying back to the ship wreck. 

***

He made a really good time back, because he followed the same path he had created before and... let's just say he hadn't hold back on the flora during his almost rampage. He was tense and kept all his senses on the forest around him, searching for any sign of a monster.

That was why he was so shocked, when Blue-eyed Monster Number Two ran into him out of nowhere. How did the kid manage to be so silent? He felt onto his back with a grunt and blinked up at the kid. Luke's pupils were huge! Clear sign of sympathetic nervous system's activity.

"Get up!" the kid hissed as he jumped off of him and reached for his hand. The next second Han found himself standing on his own feet. Luke's physical strength had always been a mystery in the Rebellion. Despite how tiny he was, sometimes he gave even Han a good run for his money.

"Han! Run!" Luke spun him around and pushed. Han wanted to protest in the middle of his stumble, but suddenly he understood what the problem was. A deafening roar had filled the forest. The source was close. And approaching.

"Gotta be kidding!" he hissed and started after the kid. He caught up with him after two long steps and grabbed his elbow. He stirred him off the track, little bit to the left.     

He remembered a something from his little expedition, which could give them not just advantage, but maybe would allow them to lose their pursuer. That pursuer was crashing after them through the trees and was gaining ground by the sound of it. The pair burst out of the forest just to arrive to a rocky ledge. Luke immediately froze to the spot as his eyes caught what was going by below.

The river.

“No!” the kid shook his head.

“Yes!” Han hissed and prepared himself. Their pursuer had nearly caught up with them. Few more seconds.

“You do know that I can’t sw---“ Luke didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence, because Han barreled into him, pushing both of them off the ledge. The smuggler saw in the corner of his eyes, as a horrific creature burst out of the woods.

They didn’t fell long, but still arriving into the water was no pleasant. It was freezing cold and the waves pushed them under mercilessly. Han wrapped his arms around the kid's waist and with one powerful kick of his legs, he pushed both of their head through the surface. His bag slipped off his arm and the river snatched it away. He glared after it, but he knew that swimming with that would have been impossible. 

"Relax! Don't do anything. I'll do the work!" Han instructed loudly.

Miraculously, Luke decided to do what he was told for a chance. The next roar was loud enough to cut through the thunder of the river. Han turned his head a bit and his eyes found the monster. His plan had worked. It seemingly hated water more than being hungry. The creature turned and moved to walk away.

He just had to make sure that they didn't drown.

After a while, he noted with relief, the flow of the river started to slow down.

"Look!" Luke called out and moved his arm eagerly to point. It slightly threw Han off balance and they both dipped under till he managed to correct it. "Sorry! But the river! It runs into a lake. There!" this time Luke didn't move his arm, but nodded with his head in the general direction of the supposed lake.

Han turned his face that way and sighed with relief. They were facing a tiny drop, but then the water truly stilled. He just had to be strong enough for both of them to come up after the drop. He braced himself and instructed Luke to take a deep breath. The flow quickened again, then they reached the tiny waterfall. They went under as expected. It was not that hard to resurface again, but Han was tiring. They both broke trough the surface with a gasp. It took few moments from them both to collect themselves.

Han glanced around. The lake was big. Big enough to be a problem if he had to swim alone, while Luke clung onto him.

"Here is the plan." he said between deep breaths. "Time to learn to swim."

"What?" Luke squeaked.

"You are quick learner. It'll be okay." Han reassured him.

Luke turned around, still clinging to him, then glared.

"I grew up on a desert planet. I can't swim!"

"That's why you have to learn. It's not that hard! I'm tired and I can't pull you all the way out. Stop looking at me like that! I somehow don't think you made that face when they pointed at an X-wing back then and ordered you to fly it into battle."

"Flying is different." Luke growled. He turned his face away and eyed the distance.

"Not that much. Look! Move your legs like that. Just kick with them back and forth." Han explained and imitated the movement with his hands. Luke's frown this time was not refusing, but the one of concentration. The water was clear enough for Han to check what the kid was doing with his legs and after five minutes of explaining and trying, he found the result satisfying.

"Now move your arms like this. No, don't be so stiff! Ya'll sink like a rock! Relax! See! Ya learnt how to keep yourself above the water! Told you not that hard!" he praised with a grin.

Luke's face brightened with wonder. "Wow! That's... kinda like flying!"

"Told ya!" Han huffed smugly. "Now. We have to get from point A to B. I'll teach you the crawl stroke. For that you have to basically lie up onto the surface of the water and have to bring your arm above your head than into the water alternately. Clear?"

The funny expression on Luke's face indicated that it was not clear. Han sighed. "Okay. I'll show you. Watch closely!" 

He swam around the kid in a circle deliberately moving slowly.

"Your turn!"

Well it didn't go well first. The kid nearly drowned himself three times. The problem was with the 'lie on the top of the water' part. Luke sank, sputtered, then growled in frustration. Then an idea came.

"Try it on your back. Try floating on your back!"

Luke tried. It worked!

Han mimicked him. They both rested a bit that way.

"Have you seen those buildings on the right?" Luke asked after a while.

"Yeah." Han breathed. "We should..."

So they started swimming. Han instructed Luke to do backstroke, which he did for a while.  Then suddenly he flipped onto his stomach and managed a near perfect crawl stroke swim. Han grinned and swam after him with a new found energy.

They reached the land on the side of the buildings at the same time. Han had to admit he was proud. Though, there had never been a doubt about Luke's stamina, but his ability to learn something like swimming so quickly was still baffling sometimes.

Han crawled onto the land and turned onto his back with a sigh. He decided that he deserved a little break. After all, it had been him who did most of the work and let's admit it, he wasn't twenty anymore.

"Han?"

Well, that tone was not promising. It sounded like a squeak.

"Yeah?"

"We have to move. Now!" Luke urged him.

Han turned to the side and glared at the kid. "What?"

Luke waved his hand at something out of Han's line of sight, which meant... he had to get up to look... With a groan, he did just that. However, what he saw stole his breath.

"Is that...?"

Luke glanced around quickly, then inched to the thing. He crouched down next to it not noticing how Han had kept his distance.

"Molted skin." Luke said. He pocked the thing, ran his hand over it examining its size and form. "Snake. Or something snake like. There is no... nope. There is no leg. Wow! It was or is huge! Fascinating!"

Han didn't find snakes fascinating. Nope... not at all! He shuddered at the thought. He glanced at the buildings. All of them ruins and weathered. "Perfect hiding place for a snake. " he whispered.

A very familiar roar broke the silence of the place. Luke's head snapped up and he starred across the lake. "Han. That thing. Look! It's on the other side!"

It really was. The monster that had chased them into the river stood on the other side of the lake roaring angrily.

"Do you think it knows we are here?" Luke asked.

Han eyed the distance between them and the monster, then turned back to the buildings.

"So, lizard or snake? Fancy." he muttered sarcastically.

"The ruins give us an advantage." Luke declared brightly, then marched towards the closest one.

Han turned his eyes towards the sky for a second.

"Who did I hurt?" he huffed.

***

Luke lead the way. He couldn't help it. These things were exciting! The rush was almost enough to override the pressure on his sternum. Almost. However, the familiar feeling cautioned him not to be rash. His hand slipped to the small beg on his belt. It had been a present from Wedge and more importantly, waterproof. It contained his lightsaber, which he was not so sure could survive a prolonged swim. He opened the clasp and carefully pulled the weapon free, just as he stepped into the first building.

It was dark inside and quiet. Very quiet.

Luke didn't have enough knowledge on snakes, but the Rouges had forced him to watch enough holo-horrors to be cautious of what was above him. Han's uneasiness didn't help. The older man paled considerably, when they had discovered the skin and he was gripping his blaster with enough force, that his knuckles were turning white. 

They inched forward slowly, cautiously. 

"Do you smell that?" Han whispered. His voice didn't sound so good. 

Luke sniffed the air. It smelled like... death. He closed his eyes for a second. Maybe he could reach out and find something? It went surprisingly easily this time. The flashes shouted at him. Danger. Moving in the dark. The hunter. The terrified prey. Hunger. 

"I think I take my chances with the giant lizard!" Han said suddenly and spun around. He darted for the main entrance. 

"Han! No!" Luke started after him.

The thing moved with a hiss. It sounded like triumph. It lowered itself to the ground gracefully and blocked the escape. It raised its flat head, yellow eyes concentrating on the prey closest to it.

Han froze. Childhood memories resurfacing with full force. They paralyzed even this smuggler, who had seen so much.

Luke tried to assess the situation as fast as he could. The giant snake raised its head, ready to strike, while Han didn't move. In the end, Luke's mind didn't have time to come up with a plan. His body though... it moved on its own. The lightsaber ignited, when his finger pushed the button, then his arm moved and throw the weapon. It flew through the snake so easily that for a horrifying moment Luke thought that he had missed. However, that moment had passed and the snake slipped onto the ground. In two parts.

Han gaped at the corpse. He barely trusted his nerves around the thing enough to pick up the deactivated lightsaber, but he did, then he quickly inched away.

Of course, they couldn't catch a break. He didn't even have a chance to thank the younger man his actions, when the roar came. He actually kind of expected it. After all, it always came when things seemed to quiet down a little.

"Can you feel that? Footsteps!" Luke hissed. He grabbed his saber out of Han's hand and started towards the other end of the building. "It got around the lake!"

"Come on, man!" Han huffed and hurried after him. 

The problem with the building was that it was very old. Ancient even. The walls didn't look strong enough to keep the big creature out.

"We need electricity! Something to communicate with. Long distance. Or---" Luke jabbered.

"Or a ship!" Han cut him off. "Look!" he pointed out of a broken window. Luke looked and nearly whooped in happiness as his eyes fell on a Sheathipede-class shuttle.

"Now we just have to get to it without getting eaten."

And that was the main problem. The  monster had fallen silent, which meant that they had no idea where it was exactly. They needed visual confirmation, otherwise  they could ran into a deadly trap. 

"We..." Han hummed. "Distraction. That's it! Something loud and moving. Think!" he waved with his hands frantically.

"Trying." Luke muttered as he turned around slowly. Inspiration took its sweet time, so he did another circle. "Is that a speeder?"

Just outside their building, next to another entrance, sat an old speeder bike. Luke's hand flew to his belt again and pulled out a wire.

"I know that type! I can kick start it if the engine is still working and if it has enough fuel. You keep an eye on that thingy!"

Han opened his mouth to protest, but Luke slipped out of the building faster than what humanly should be possible. With a curse or few, the smuggler placed himself to the entrance and searched the place for the giant lizard. Which was nowhere to be found. That made him really uneasy. He really hoped that it didn't have abilities like camouflage or something...

Luke didn't work long. Suddenly, the engine of the speeder came to life and shot out of its resting place. Luke had fixed the control level with his wire, so it didn't change direction in its flight. A flight that was short lived. This time the lizard didn't roar as it jumped out of the cover of the building. Its powerful jaw snapped shut around the speeder.

Han grabbed Luke's elbow and tugged him forcefully. "Run!"

They made a mad dash towards the transport shuttle. They didn't even dared to glance back to check if the monster was still occupied. Han, thanks to his long legs, reached the shuttle first. He fumbled with the levers of the ramp.

"Come on! Open it!" Luke hissed.

"On it! On it! Yes!" They were in the middle of jumping inside, when Han had already pulled the lever to close the door.

Inside they sat in front of each other, blinking with wide eyes.

"We reached the shuttle!" Luke breathed.

"Now pray. It till has to fly!" Han growled, reminding themselves of their persistent bad luck.

Luke held up his hands in a placating manner, then placed them together. "Praying! Praying!"

He followed Han into the cockpit, thanking the stars the it was not one with an automated pilot. Still, this was a short-range shuttle, mostly used for traveling across a planet's surface or, between a planet and an orbiting startship. They supposed to be equipped with hyperdrive, but still...

Han slipped into the pilot's chair, his fingers flying over the control panel.

"Please, let it be fully tanked! Please, let it be fully tanked!" the smuggler mumbled repeatedly. 

It was not fully tanked as he hoped, but it had enough fuel for them to make their escape. The engine came to life with a rumble and the shuttle shuddered around them. 

"The starting process will take few minutes. It hadn't been used in a really long time." Han explained as he checked the readings on the monitor.

Luke glanced out of the viewport and felt color run out of his face. "Erm... Han? You might want to grab onto something!"

"What?"

The shuttle shook vehemently, which resulted with Han ending up on the floor of the cockpit.

"What the hells?!"

The head of their pursuer rose slowly into their line of sight. It was big enough to cover most of the viewport.

"Why are you so big?" Han squeaked.

"Bad dragon!" Luke looked sternly at the thing."Go away! Shoo!" he waved with his hands. That seemed to anger the monster even more. It tried to bite down on the ship, but luckily his teeth didn't manage to hurt the steel. It changed its tactics and started crawling at the ship.

"That went well!" Han hissed sarcastically.

Luke shrugged, "Just get us out of here. For example now!"

"Demanding much?" Han huffed, but he continued his work on the ship. The computer finally gave them the green light and Han immediately proceeded in lifting the ship.

The monster didn't like that and with one powerful jump, it ended up on the top of the shuttle. It nearly pushed them back to the ground, but Han's quick reflexes prevented the crash.

"Son of a..." the smuggler muttered angrily.

Luke ignored the ugly words that followed for once and concentrated on fixing the straps around his own waist.

The claws of the monster made loud scratching sounds as it tried to get a grip on the slippery steel. Han Moved the ship from side-to-side jerkily. The scratching sound intensified.

"Just fall, darn it!" the smuggler huffed, then he gave up on being relatively nice and turned the nose of the ship towards the skyline. He increased their speed continuously and when the second green light came, they jumped to hyperspace.

The scratching sound disappeared.

"Poor thing." Luke sighed. He honestly looked crestfallen.

"Are you serious?" Han was aware that his voice sounded way too high. "You... really! It wanted to eat us!"

"Yeah... but---"

"But? Really? And what would you have said to the Princess? That it followed you home?"

"I didn't want to take it back with us!" Luke huffed and crossed his arms. "But this was an overkill!"

"Overkill he says..." Han groaned.

The expression on Luke's face indicated a very long journey ahead of them. The readings of the state of the tank indicated an even longer one...       

            

 

         

       


End file.
